


The Broken Hearted Club

by Little_Firestar84



Series: The Chronicles of Christopher & Georgina LaSalle [3]
Category: NCIS: New Orleans
Genre: F/M, Fatherhood, Past Relationship(s), Romance, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-02 14:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8670832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Firestar84/pseuds/Little_Firestar84
Summary: In the sequel of the acclaimed "The Detective's Unexpected Pregnancy" we find Chris LaSalle, up and coming NCIS agent, building a new life with Detective Georgina "Georgie" Newman and the child he had claimed as his own, Caitlin. Everything seems fine and going smoothly for the little family- maybe a little too much - until Melody James- Chris' ex- comes back into the picture… claiming that the man who had always wanted to be a father had, indeed, fathered a child - with her!Now Betaed Version added on 12/21!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
>  
> 
> Sequel to ["The Detective's Unexpected Pregnancy",](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7819021/chapters/17845585)  
> also available here on archieve of our own, which was written for this  
> year's Het Big Bang.  
> The story takes inspiration from the current story-line of the show  
> concerning Chris,  setting it inside the Detective's Universe.  
> The story takes place roughtly between chapter 12 and the epilogue of  
> Unexpected Pregnancy, where Christopher and Georgie- the detective- are  
> still engaged.

  
  


  


“Your phone rang. _Again.”_

Chris, still half-asleep, grunted something quizzically, rubbing his sore eyes, as he looked astonished (and a bit envious) at his girlfriend; Georgina “Georgie” Newman was already perfectly dressed with perfect clothes, and looked like she had slept for at least eight hours straight- which he knew was an impossible task with a newborn baby awake at all kind of hours. And yet, she _did_ look fine- which was the complete opposite of what he felt and looked like. He guessed that the right choice of words would have been _train wreck_. 

“Good Morning to you, my love. Yes, I slept quite well, thank you very much for asking. It’s good to know that you care.” He grunted, managing to _finally_ fill _his_ red cup with hot coffee; he gulped down mouthfuls of the boiling liquid, his taste buds barely acknowledging the intrusion, his synapsis finally firing yet again like the fourth of July. 

Rolling her eyes, Georgie grunted something in his direction- something he didn’t catch, either because he couldn’t yet or because he didn’t want to- he was royally pissed, she had no business being so… _pristine_ at such an unholy hour of the morning. 

What did register, though, was _his_ phone ringing _. Again_. “And _that_ is what I was talking about. You better answer her or put her in your blacklist before _she_ wakes my daughter up.” She told him as she passed him his mobile; Chris took it, eyeing Georgie suspiciously, and he immediately rejected the call, without giving it a second thought. 

“How do you know it’s a she?” He asked, sipping, this time more carefully, the hot beverage; he loved the damn stuff- and mostly, he loved drinking the hot stuff in his favorite place- her kitchen -from his favorite mug, one that, in the last few months, had finally found a place among Georgie’s more feminine stuff. Technically, he hadn’t moved in yet, but _his_ ring was already on her finger and, with his apartment on the market, he spent more and more time at her place every day. Even the baby she still insisted to call her daughter, even if she still was a Newman in the eyes of the law, he liked to introduce her to people as his- _their-_ daughter, and his mother always beamed with pride and joy every time she saw Cait, calling her “Grandma’s joy”. 

Georgie chuckled, shaking her head as, after a fraction of second, the phone resumed ringing; Chris sent her a death glare, like to accuse her of something. 

“I didn’t answered your phone!” She defended herself valiantly, a bit indignant that he could even just _think_ that she would betray his privacy- especially his work and the sensitive pieces of information he too often had to handle- like that. “I swear, I didn’t!”

Chris, leaning against the kitchen of the place he had found for her when he could barely acknowledge that he actually liked Georgina Newman, simply glared at the brunette- City Girl, as she had been nicknamed by Percy- and didn’t bother adding a single word. Frankly, he didn’t care whether she answered his phone or not- he’d gone and picked her mobile up himself enough times, after all- but what unnerved him was the fact that:

a) She didn’t want to admit she had gone and answered his phone;

b) She didn’t even pretend to be jealous that another woman (according to her and her detective skills) was calling him non-stop:

c) Cait was having colic after colicevery night and Georgie was as fresh as a rose while he was a good six years younger than her and he felt like a truck had hit him. Repeatedly.

“Well, I could start with the fact that you didn’t save her number in your contacts, _and_ I know the number of everyone you work with- because I just happen to work with them too.” She stated, grinning, biting a piece of buttered bread between chuckles. “ _And_ they would know to call me if you didn’t pick up. Also, you just hanged up- and I don’t think you’d had the guts to hang up on Percy or King.”

Chris shook his head, but he had to admit that, deep down, he was amused; after what had to feel like a lifetime, Georgie wasn’t in the field any longer, having preferred a more “safe” job after Cait’s birth, but she still was a detective underneath that nerdy, geeky brain of hers- and he was quite sure she still felt like one, too. She hadloved her job too much- had been too good at it- to just forget her old life completely. So, even if he was her victim, it was kind of nice seeing her playing detective once in a while.

Or maybe, the reason he was so amused was because _he_ was her victim to begin with.

“She is a former hook up, am I right?” She demanded- making it sound like it was an affirmation- while beaming with pride; Chris huffed, once again rejecting another phone call, as soon as he heard the first ring of the damninfernal device. “Judging from the number of calls and the, I think 15 texts, I’m assuming she doesn’t take no for an answer.”

Chris grunted something, then, crossing his arms, he stated more clearly, “How come you are not jealous? When you were dating Keith I would have killed him!” Actually, he had considered murdering his once best friend the moment the cop had laid eyes on Georgie, but she didn’t need to know that; she probably already guessed it- as she was now aware of how deep Chris’ feelings for her had run, and how long he had loved her, cared for her- but he didn’t wanted for her to feel any kind of remorse for not having reciprocated him when she wasn’t ready. Even as it was, their love was still a fragile thing, to threat with enormous care.

“Are you or your clone or your identical twin I know nothing about dating her? Because you are either always here or on the job- which means you _can’t_ be dating someone other than me. The day’s just not long enough.” 

Chris sighed, turning his phone off. It was starting to get on his nerves. Like, for real. Both the ringing, the texting and Georgie using her detective skills on _him;_ New Orleans was filled with awful people, as proved from the enormous mass of work they kept getting, why couldn’t she play detective with people who actually deserved the use of her… superpower? “I really, _really_ hate it when you play detective with me, Miss Newman.”

Georgie chuckled as she stood, and, standing on tiptoes right before the much taller Chris, she gave him a peck on the lips- a quick kiss that tasted like fresh bread, butter and cherries, like her favorite lip-balm.

Chris rolled his eyes as his hands gripped her at the waist; his thumbs teased the strip of skin between shirt and jeans, making her shiver and heating her at the same time; she cleared her voice, blushing, biting her lips as she desperately tried to resist him. Even if she knew that resisting Christopher LaSalle was an impossible task: Chris had won her over in every department over the years; he had been a trusted coworker, a good – excellent, even –friend, a confident, and now he had filled the last box still left unchecked in the years they had known each other. 

Partner. 

Lover. 

_ Fiancé. _

“Not so smug any longer, eh, Newman?” Chris chuckled, rubbing her neck affectionately and playfully with his nose, like they were two children- or two lovebirds just finding each other for the first time.

Georgie shot him a death glare, but then, she shook her head and sighed, smacking him playfully in the chest and putting the young man back in his place.

“Seriously, though, Chris, you don’t answer that girl’s calls, she’s not going away- she’ll come looking for you, and you better hope she’s not a bunny boiler, because, trust me, if that’s the case, it never ends well.”

Chris barely resisted laughing as he remembered the woman in question, a questionable hook up from the time after Savannah’s death, when he was at loss and he hadn’t found a reason to move on yet- a reason that had showed up one morning in his life in the shape of one Christina Georgina Newman.

“She’s not a bunny boiler.” He creased his eyebrows, looking tentatively and guiltily at his sweet half. “I think.” He finally admitted, not so smug any longer. 

“Then, be a man and stop blowing her off. You call her, you answer her calls, and you do whatever you have to do to take all of us out of our collective misery.” She was looking at him, and explaining this like it was the easiest task in the universe.

Or better yet: like she had been there herself way too many times for his own taste.

“Anyway, how do you know so much about this?” He asked her quizzically, trying to hide his smirk. 

“Yeah, hate to break it to you LaSalle, but I’ve started dating long before meeting you- probably even long before you even started to consider dating girls.” She chuckled, shaking her head, her eyes filled with mirth as her memories went in places she thought it would have never had again- and for once, it didn’t feel wrong, it didn’t break her heart or filled her with doubts about the future remembering all the broken relationships she had gone through in her life. “I’ve been on both sides of that phone, I’ve ducked my share of calls and….”

“And I guess you boiled your good share of bunnies, too?” He asked, chuckling.

Georgie chuckled as well, shaking her head. “Nah. But I did showed up at a guy’s doorstep once…”

Chris looked at her a bit disappointed, pouting like a kid. “ _You_ went after _a guy_? Seriously? I thought you liked playing hard to get!”

“I don’t play hard to get. And it only happened that one time. And it’s not like I’m proud of myself- even if, in my defense, I really, _really_ liked him.” She clicked her lips, her mind suddenly far away. “ Noah was a bit of a bunny boiler when we first met, though. Guy couldn’t take no for an answer even if his life depended on it.”

“And you married him?” He asked, the disbelief clear in his voice; he really wanted to hear her out, know more about that part- _that time_ \- of her life; the pain ofburying her husband too soon had been one of the reasons- the fears- behind her refusal to acknowledge what was going on between the two of them, and getting a word out about her past wasn’t as easy as it could seem from the outside.

She shrugged. “Friend of mine used to say, there’s no taste for accordions.” Georgie smiled, her arms crossed, her smile as bright as the sun. “So, what’s the deal with my rival anyway?”

Chris shook his head, as yet again he tried to get Georgie’s mind away from that other woman and back to more important business- for example, making out on their couch, or even better, a pit-stop in their bedroom- but her pout took his mind out of the gutter; she was really curious, and wanted to know more about whoever was menacing to awake their little girl.

“Trust me sweetheart, she’s no rival, and it all happened long before you came back here anyway- since the moment I saw you in the garden, I knew that you would have been the one for me.” Chris’ eyes were filled with love and devotion- a feeling that Georgie should have seen right from that very first moment, when their gazes met. And, deep down, she wondered if she hadn’t actually seen it- and had been scared. 

Running away, pretending, had always been easier than facing her own emotions- even dealing with killers, rapists was easier than loving- and especially, than _being loved_.

“She came here to New Orleans for the Music Festival a few _years ago”_ He underlined the term years, like it was extremely important that she understood that it had all happened long before she had stumbled back in his grey and plate existence. “Long before you came back. We, you know, hang out for a couple of weeks…” 

Georgie snorted in a very un-lady like manner, trying very hard to avoid laughing at how Chris was blushing- Chris LaSalle, notorious playboy and tombeur de femmes! “Hung out? Is it how the kids call it nowadays? Maybe I should update my dictionary…”

Chris sighed, shaking his head a bit exasperated, but still affectionate. “Anyway, she goes back home, never heard from her ever again until now. End of the story.” 

“Then, next time she calls, answer her, solve the mystery and get the poor woman out of her misery by showing her the perfect pictures of you picture perfect family. And if she is a bunny boiler, we’ll do what we gotta do. But please. Make the phone stop ringing, all right?”

“I’ll follow the advice of the expert, ma’am.” He mocked her, giving her a quick peck on the lips;with his moist lips on her owns, insistent and hard, demanding access,she sighed, pouting as she knew all too well that they would have been late if they wouldn’t stop- also, the nanny was on her way, and being caught red-handed wasn’t on the list of prerogatives of neither of them.

“That, Special Agent LaSalle, it’s not the expert talking- it’s called common sense.” She said, pouting, her idle fingers plying with his short, military-like hair.

“Oh, really’” Chris chuckled, shamelessly, purring with pleasure. “I really, really like your common sense, then….”

And as he nibbled at her neck, their bodies pressed hard against each other with just thin layers of clothing separating them, common sense was the last thing on their minds…

“Christopher LaSalle!” He and Gregorio had barely left his car, and were taking the few steps towards the building housing the NCIS offices, when Chris heard a feminine voice calling his name; he stopped dead in his tracks, grunting and calling himself all kinds of names as Gregorio, at his side, tsk-tsked him and shook her head, way too amused for her own good, as the person calling him left the car at the side of the road and joined them on the sidewalk.

“I told you so…” She sing-sang and she waved him goodbye with a hand as she walked inside the building, making fun of the man and his fate. 

Part of Chris was relatively happy for her behavior- it was a good thing that Gregorio wasn’t so…. strict any longer, learning to go with the New Orleans swing, but frankly, she was starting to get a little… too close for comfort?

Also, he wasn’t sure he really liked how much the FBI agent on loan and his girlfriend- a former FBI agent herself- liked each other’s company and agreed with each other, teaming up against, usually, _him_ ; their last agreement had come, in particular, regarding the very chirping woman right before him, the blonde bombshell known as the one and only Melody James – the woman who had been “harassing” him non-stop in the last few days, harassing as well his work partner and his life partner in the process.

“You know, I’ve called you all sorts of names, but _rude_ was never one of them…” She sing-sang in her sweet voice, her southern accent as marked as his own. Beautiful and young, a blonde statue worth of a Playboy magazine, she was everything he would have needed in his old life- and he remembered perfectly well why he had gone after her. “You’ve been ignoring me and I don’t like it.”

“Melody…” He chuckled, clearing his voice. “It’s… good to see you?” He said, hands in the pockets of his pants, the sentence sounding much more like a question rather than an affirmation. She looked at him with daggers in her eyes, pouting a little, her arms crossed as Chris stared at his feet, a bit ashamed of his childish behavior; he knew he had done wrong- he should have told her right from the start that he wasn’t interested- nor available- any longer, and put her out of her misery.“I know I’ve been rude. And… I’ve been busy with work and… life, but, that’s no excuse.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely more like it…” Melody shook her head, pouting and yet amused, and practically launched herself at him, engulfing Chris in her arms; she was trying to kiss his neck when the young man finally managed to free himself from her grasp, although her arms stood firmly around his neck, her thumbs teasing the rough, bare skin. 

“Whoa. Hold on, Mel, it’s been a long time….” He gasped, his eyes as wide as saucers, a little scared; he had told Newman and Gregorio that he didn’t think Melody was a “bunny boiler”, but he was starting to think that maybe he had been too quick to judgeand that maybe she wasn’t completely _there._

_ “ _ Not too long to forget how much fun we had, I’m sure?” She asked- _demanded-_ pouting. Had he really liked that much this woman? He was starting to understand why he had fallen so much for Georgie- as much as hard to get as she had been, she at least knew the meaning of the words “ _no_ ” and “ _personal space_ ”. 

“Yeah, uh…” He struggled to say, trying to defend himself from her attack and talk at the same time- not an easy task, which he would have never guessed when he had first met the woman. “I _know_ we had a good time. _But_ times have changed, situations have changed, and, uhm, people too, you see…”

Melody parted with him, and put her hands on her hips, leaning against the side of her car; suddenly a little more serious, she closed her eyes and took a big breath, shaking her head as to clear her mind- like having been so close to Christopher had been able to play some games with her, mind and body and soul. 

“You know, Christopher, it’s kind of funny, because that’s the reason I wanted to get in touch, and drove all the way from Charleston to see you. I got…” She laughed, shaking her head full of perfectly styled blonde curls. “I got to show you something.” She opened the back door of the bright red SUV, where a baby boy he believed he was quite sure he had already seen somewhere- Chris guessed around the age of two- was sleeping peacefully in his car seat, embracing a teddy bear with a bright blue ribbon around its neck. “His name is Tucker.”

Chris shook his head in almost disbelief, but smiled nevertheless; the baby was extremely cute, and he had always been a sucker for children- even before Cait came into his life. “Wow. You are a mom now!” He asked, barely resisting the urge to tickle the kid- but, if his look at Melody’s eyes, and his personal experience, were teaching him anything, was that the woman was more than happy that her son was deep asleep. 

“And you are a dad, Christopher.”

Chris chuckled, smiling brightly, all teeth, and blushed of a gentle shade of pink; his mind went back to that morning and all the days since the baby’s birth, feeding Cait and play with her, and enjoy the small moments spent with _his_ Georgie, cooking together or enjoying a lazy evening while catching up with some TV shows or reading a book. 

He wanted to tell Melody everything, about his baby girl and his new life and maybe even compare notes and ask for advice- wasn’t what new parents were supposed to do, after all? But then… then he looked, _really looked_ at the sleeping baby, and he _finally_ remembered where he had seen the baby already; he stopped to think about what he wanted to say, and his mind was suddenly filled with all kinds of questions- questions that, deep down, he had already an answer to.

Melody wasn’t talking about Caitlin. She wasn’t referring to _his daughter_ , but rather… _his son_. 

_ Her _ son.

_ Their _ son.

“He is yours.” She admitted, blushing a little, her voice and her eyes low. He gulped down a mouthful of saliva, realizing that she wasn’t lying; for he had never met the baby before- but Tucker looked _exactly_ like he did when he was his age.

With just a few words, Christopher felt like his whole word was falling down, coming apart at the seams. 

Until that morning, Chris had thought to have everything.

And now, he _knew_ he was on the verge of losing it all.


	2. Chapter 2

When Gregorio entered the office, she saw with the corner of the eye Christopher hiding something as soon as he had spotted her; she grunted, feeling like slapping him on that thick skull of his; with just two steps, she had reached his desk, and once there, she crossed her arms, looking at him in a way that would have made felt guilty even a saint. And that left no doubt to what she meant and how disappointed she was in him in that moment. 

Chris didn’t even bother to try to defend himself- he simply pouted like he was some adorable kid, knowing all too well that his partner had just gotten him with his hand in the cookies jar and there was nothing he could say to defend himself; Gregorio, thanks to a chance meeting with Melody herself, was now aware of the whole situation/potential disaster, and for the last week she had tried to get him to do the right thing -or even just _any_ thing- and yet he had done almost nothing at all. 

“And here I thought you were a family man, enjoying the family life… instead, it looks like everything’s peachy…”

Chris groaned, sighing dramatically as he hid his head between his crossed arms, his forehead hitting the hard wood of his desk. “Last week there was me, my girlfriend and a toddler that barely allowed us to sleep two hours straight each night. Now, on top of that, I’m spending most of my time at my old place, with a two years old with a silver spoon in his mouth and a mama I barely know, and I have to find all kind of excuses with Georgie…”

Gregorio groaned. “C’mon, LaSalle, you knew the mama well enough to make a baby with her!”

Chris sent death glares in her direction, not even bothering answering her accusations; instead, he groaned, and ranted some more. “Plus, she either texts or calls me every five minutes… Pick up the clothes at the laundry. Buy the formula. Pick up diapers. Pick up sippy cups, pick up this, pick up that… I don’t even know what a sippy cup actually is or where I could find one!”

Gregorio groaned, looking in disbelief around herself- like to check if there was someone else, other than them, in the room. “Is that you… asking _me_ for advice? _Me? B_ ecause normally, LaSalle, I’d love to help, I really would, but I’m back in DC in about a minute and a half, so, sorry, but, don’t look at me.”

Chris pouted, and looked at her like asking her for help wasn’t his choice- just what life had thrown at him to begin with. He was starting to like Gregorio- he really did- but his “family” was a whole other matter…

“Only problem is, Gregorio, you are the only one who knows.” He sighed. 

Gregorio groaned, and took a seat at his desk, right before Chris; her hands joined over the table, she looked at him like she was a disappointed parent, and then, chuckling, she finally started talking again. “You know, I thought you would have told Country Mouse by now….”

“ _I am_ Country Mouse. Percy is City Mouse, all right?” He pouted, like she had just insulted him, and not done a reasonable mistake over something that was, frankly, very childish in her opinion.

Gregorio rolled her eyes and groaned, exasperated that Chris was getting only what he wanted out of their “discussion”, if what they were having could be called like that. “ _Or_ you could have told Pride- as he has more homespun advice than Doctor Phil and has a grown-up who, as far as I know, turned up all right. But you haven’t done any of that. And you know why?”

“Why do I feel like you’ll tell me anyway?”

Gregorio chuckled, as he was right and she indeed was going to tell him- wheatear he wanted her to or not. “You are not telling them because they’ll tell you the same thing I’m about to tell you. You’ve got a fiancé, LaSalle, she deserves to know what the hell is going on- and Percy too. Because right now your head isn’t in the game, and if you don’t keep your mind in the game, you put us in danger, all right?”

Gregorio paused, sighed, and, biting her lips, looked around; with the corner of her eyes, she could see said fiancé outside, talking with Pride- about the Giovanelli case, she guessed from the look of things- but there was something else; Gregorio had been around Newman quite a lot lately, also because the former FBI had been the only one to actually want her company when she had first joined the team. Also, Tammy wasn’t just FBI- she was also a quite decent profiler, and she could see that there was something off about the forensic investigator.

“You have to tell her,” She whispered, still looking at the woman in the garden, and yet, it seemed awfully a lot like she was screaming at the idiot right before her. “She isn’t an idiot. She’s a good cop and a good person and she doesn’t deserve any of this, all right? If you don’t tell her she’ll get suspicious, if she’s not already, and if she finds out before you tell her, you’ll not have to worry about dividing yourself between your two families, because I have the feeling she’ll have you out of her door the minute you try to explain why you thought it was a good idea hiding something like that!”

Chris groaned as his head fell back, his eyes fixed on the white ceiling, feeling suddenly as empty as the same wall he was staring at. “Is that your version of “the more I know, the more I can help, the more we can keep each other safe” from Pride’s rulebook?”

Gregorio smiled, and was ready to answer something, when his phone rang yet again, and as he went to answer it, she left her seat at his desk and checked on her own phone, hoping that Chris would follow her advice and ask Pride to help him sort his feelings out.

Because the longer he didn’t do anything, he kept things from his loved ones, the higher was the chance thatsomeonewould get hurt- and if maybe an adult’s heart could be repaid, she had seen way too many times how a child could never fully heal when betrayed by an adult.

Especially if the adult in question was her own father…

* * *

“Georgie! Here for a case?” Georgie looked at Chris and Gregorio plotting something, her eyes as big as saucers; as soon as she heard Pride’s voice, she shook her head, clearing her mind as she offered him some sheets of paper filled with graphics, calculations and all kind of scientific data and reconstructions and the likes.

“Yeah,” She managed to say, feeling a little at loos, like she had suddenly forgot what she was doing there or she wasn’t sure of it any longer. “It’s about the Giovanelli case? The pattern of the blood spatters doesn’t add up with the crime scene we found, like, at all. We were right in our first assumption that the whole thing had been staged. Loretta isn’t even sure about the cause of death yet…”

Georgie took a big breath, and, lowering her eyes, she bit her lips, staying in silence; more than once, it seemed that she would have said something to her superior and friend, and yet, no word would escape her sealed lips. 

“Something’s on your mind, Georgie?” Pride inquired, sounding- and feeling- worried for the younger forensic investigator; he followed her gaze, from the garden all the way to the inside of the building, to Christopher and Gregorio whispering at each other, like they were some kind of co-conspirators.

“I’m worried, King.” She finally admitted, taking her gaze away from her fiancée, shaking her head slightly as she put her hands in her pockets. “Chris hasn’t been home for days, and even when he is with me, his mind is somewhere else, and he keeps doing his best to avoid me… he is jumpy, he looks like a zombie, he keeps getting calls and texts and he won’t tell me what’s wrong with him…”

Pride shook his head, looking at Christopher inside; he sighed, mentally lecturing the kid for his behaviour. “He does seem a little distracted lately..”

Georgie looked at Pride, trying to cold-read him, to understand if he too was worried, if he was going to do something about it or not; she knew how he worked, that he preferred to have people going to talk with him when they felt ready, but she wasn’t sure she could wait any longer. Had it only been her, maybe, but her daughter was worth too much…

“Listen, I know that you do the Pride talking only when we are ready and we come to you, but…” she took another breath, and turning to face him, she plead the older man with her eyes. “But I’m desperate, King. You really need to talk with Chris… he and Gregorio are up to something, and it can’t be anything good because otherwise he would be telling me… instead, from the look of things, she is the only one to know, other than him.”

Pride chuckled, and Georgie rolled her eyes, grunting, recognizing that the man was trying to divert her focus away from the main discussion, and her problems. “Now, what?”

“Nothing, just considering that you are the only member of my team who refers to Gregorio with her given name when she isn’t around.” His words proved her right- Pride was half-joking, half-serious, he was trying to lower the tension to at least give her the impression of feeling any better. 

“She is FBI. There’s nothing wrong with being FBI. I used to be FBI myself and I’m quite sure I turned out pretty well.” She sighed, quite loudly and dramatically. “Will you talk with him? Please?” 

Pride groaned, shaking his head; he opened his mouth as to speak, but before he could get one single word out, his phone rang, cutting the conversation short. “Pride.” He simply said; hismind on the call, his eyes went to Georgie, and he saw her standing there, staring at Christopher in the distance. She was tired, she looked exhausted, but more than that, what got to him was how defeated she looked like, too worried for her own good. It was like she was just a shadow of her usual self, like she was desperately trying to put on a show that wasn’t fooling anyone; whatever she was thinking- it wasn’t any good that she was doing any of that. Not for her, not for Cait, and neither for her relationship with Christopher.

The first time she had been living in New Orleans Georgie hadn’t been like that, but Gibb’s words were still fresh in his mind, how deep the young woman had fallen when losing her beloved husband; even if Christopher was alive and well, Pride could see in her eyes how hunted Georgie was; falling for the younger NCIS agent had been a risk for her- one she had been more than willing to take- but now she was scared. He could see it clearly. She was asking herself if maybe she hadn’t been right when doubting Chris- if maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t just like any other man in her life. 

Pride covered the speaker of his phone with his big, warm hand, and put the other on her shoulder, holding her like he was the only thing keeping her afloat. “I will.” He said, and for a second he saw the doubt in her eyes, the fear that he too, like too many other men in her life, would take a promise back. “As soon as I’ll find the right moment, I will talk with Christopher. I promise.” 

Her eyes red with lack of sleep, worry and unshed tears, Georgie simply nodded, grabbing Pride’s hand on her shoulder for a fraction of second. 


	3. Chapter 3

#  3

Pride started to worry when he saw Christopher sighing as he received yet another phone call- and yet again he didn’t answer it. Georgie’s words kept going on repeat in his mind, and he still had in his eyes her picture- he just couldn’t forget how sad and defeated she had worried the day before, when she had _begged_ him to talk with Christopher. 

_ Maybe, _ he thought _, the time may be right_ …

“I’m not usually one to pry, Christopher…” Pride started, never taking his eyes off the road. “What you folks do in your free time, it’s none of my business- unless it’s something that affects work, of course. But, you got something going on, you need to talk…” Pride, behind the wheel, shrugged, like to pretended he didn’t know how, whatever the younger agent and the former detective had going on, was at risk. But he had never been one to pry, and he knew that, had he been doing just that, Christopher would have never talked. The boy needed to think it had been his own idea- and not his boss’- to open up about whatever he had going on.

“Don’t worry, King, I can handle it.” Christopher answered, with a false smile that no one would have believed to- not even someone who didn’t know him like Pride did; between chances encounters and formal introductions, they had known each other for over a decade; Christopher had been a kid back then, not only for his young age, but he used to be childish and immature and selfish. Katrina- and Pride – had changed him, and over time he had turned out to be a fine man, a true southern gentleman like his mother had always wished him to be. It was just too bad that right now he was reverting back to old habits- even if Pride guessed that not even Christopher was fully aware of it. And, the Senior Officer suspected, there was no malice behind his actions. Christopher was hiding something- and he was doing it for other people’s sake. Without realizing how much he was hurting- and betraying- them in the process. 

_ Maybe you think you can handle it _ , _Christopher_ , Pride thought, sighing, barely resisting shaking his head- and wanting to slap the kid in the back of the head just like Gibbs liked to do with his people _. But I’m pretty sure that your relationship with Georgie can’t. Trust me- I know a thing or two about broken relationships…_

“I’m not worrying,” Pride said, lying through his teeth, as he stopped the car and left the vehicle. “just, I’m here if you need me.”

Christopher, at his side, chuckled lightly, resigned; hands in his pockets, he kept his head bowed. “It’s just that… this conversation, it may be a little bigger than whatyou are expecting.” _Or maybe not_ , Chris wondered, asking himself if saying the words out loud- just those few words- was really that difficult. Maybe Gregorio was right, and Pride was the answer to, if not all of his problems, many of them; he was a father, but mostly, he had been a family man- and his work, and not his heart, had ruined what he had going on with his ex-wife.

“It’s just that… I’m still trying to sort it all out, and I want to do this, I really want to… but I also want to do it the right way.” He sighed, coming to a stop, leaning against the closest wall; Pride was a good six feet before him, and sighing and rolling his eyes, he stopped, and turned on his heels, facing his pupil. 

“Christopher, I’m trying to keep an open mind here, but specifics would really be helpful right now.” 

Christopher sighed, scratching the back of his head. “I’m a dad, King.” He finally said; out of habit, he checked his surroundings, like to make sure that no one but Pride had heard him or his fateful admission.

Pride chuckled, smiling lazily, as he didn’t get what the man truly meant, and patted Chris on the shoulder; Christopher had finally truly gotten what it mean being a father- Georgie had gotten so worried because Christopher was feeling the responsibility of being a family man. 

But Christopher lifted his head, shaking it a little, his eyes sad and worried, like his soul was being devoured, engulfed by the thickest darkness.

“Biologically. I mean… that I’ve got a biological son.” Chris sighed, as Pride looked at him in silence, open-mouthed, at loss for words. “I had no idea until a few days ago, when this girl I used to… hang up with a couple of years back shows up with this baby boy.”

“Ah.” Was everything that Pride was able to say; he was speechless- and he had to admit that Christopher was right. The conversation was way bigger than the few words exchanged on their way to a crime scene.

“Yeah, exactly- like I said, a bigger conversation.”

Pride shook his head, sighing, his expression the same as a disappointed parent- the more he looked at him, the more Christopher saw in the older man’s eyes the same expression of that case immediately after Katrina, when Pride believed Christopher able to be so much better than what he showed, pretended to be. “Is this why you haven’t spoken with Georgie and Percy yet?”

Chris chuckled. “I know I should, but, Percy will whip my butt for being stupid,” he said, chuckling and laughing lazily, just to darken a second later. “And Georgie…”

Christopher sighed, his eyes on the ground. There was so much more going on, so many things he wanted to say, but he didn’t know where to start. And besides, with Georgie- with what he was doing to her and their life together –did he deserve any consolation, any help? He had done his own bed, after all, he had known what he was getting himself into when he had begged Georgie for a chance. But, even if, like he had told Melody, things were different now, he hadn’t always been the kind of man he was now. He had played in the mud- _of course_ he would have gotten dirty. But no one else had to pay for his mistakes. It was time to deal with the consequences- hoping that his whole life wouldn’t implode because he had been a childish idiot.

Like he was reading Christopher’s mind, Pride chuckled, his smile softer, his eyes full of compassion and affection- for his friends, his people, his surrogate family- and he grabbed Chris for the shoulder, his grip reassuring, holding Chris there, showing the young man that he gotpeople there for him. “Christopher, I know this is a thought one, but I know you. Your head and your heart, they are in the right place. You’ll figure it out. But…”

Pride sighed, and paused, for what felt the longest time. “You could wait to tell Percy, but Georgie…Christopher, you _need_ to tell her. She is worried and upset- and rightfully so.”

The younger NCIS agent chuckled, trying to pretend everything was all right, and he hadn’t a problem in the whole wide world; his eyes, though, never met Pride’s- for her knew that, otherwise, his boss would have understood just how worried he truly was, how upset. 

“You can relax Pride- you can call Gibbs off if you are scared that I’ll keep my feet in two shoes.” Chris said, smiling grimly, trying to lower the tension, to make everything feel less tense- and the situation less awful- of what it truly was. “I’m just looking for the right way, the right moment, to tell her everything.”

“You are stalling, Christopher- I can understand it, trust me. But, I’m not sure there’s anything like a right way or a right moment to tell your fiancé something like that. You just have to tell her- and hope that the only things she will do will be calling you stupid and slapping you a few times.”

He knew he was right- and Christopher had actually made up his mind as soon as his boss had told him he would have been there for him; it meant the world to him that Pride believed so much in him- had so much faith in him; he looked at his boss walking away in the distance and approaching one of the people of interest in the case, and, sighing, he grabbed his phone, and dialled the number he already knew at heart.

“Ehy, it’s me.” He simply said, staying in silence way too much, leaning against the closest wall with his left shoulder. “You preparing dinner?” He asked, as he heard the sounds of the kitchen through the phone, and Caitlin’s giggle of happiness- a sound that he could never live without.

“Yeah, just putting together something.” Back at her place, Georgie sighed as she looked at the few ingredients right before her; they were very simple, and there was barely enough for one, as she had stopped waiting for Chris to come home and eat with her after the last week. 

“Listen… I’m tying up some loose ends with Pride… and then I’ll be home, all right? We’ll… eat something and we’ll talk, ok?”

She nodded, then she remembered that they were at the phone, and a bit clumsily she cleared her voice. “Yeah, uh, all right. See you later, then.”

He greeted her once more, and then they ended the call; Georgie put the phone down, her hand shakinga little as her eyes fell on her daughter, sitting in her high chair and playing with a rattle Christopher himself had bought the day Cait was born.

She was worried- but Chris had called. He hadn’t told her anything yet, but he wanted to. He was willingly to share this burden, whatever it was, with her. Maybe it wasn’t everything- yet- but at least it was something. At least, it was a start. 

Smiling of a little, sad smile, she ruffled Cait’s dark curls, kissing the talk-scented head with eyes burning with unshed tears as she heard the bell rang; she wondered who it could be- Chris would have used his own keys, and other people from work would have called first. Her heart stopped beating for a fraction of second, her mind filled with the memories of one of the worst days in her life, when someone else had done the same thing to tell her thather husband had fallen in the line of duty.

But maybe… maybe _it was_ Chris, and he had wanted to surprise her. Maybe when he had called he had been close to home, and had wanted to make sure that she wanted to talk- wanted to get the courage to say whatever was on his mind.

Feeling like a teenager in love for the first time, finally getting a date with the hot superstar quarter back, she went to open the door, but when she did so, she didn’t find Chris, nor a cop or some military personnel or some of her friends or acquaintances- it was a woman, tall, blonde, gracious, young, delicate, everything Georgie wasn’t nor had ever been, and the former detective felt, strangely… inferior, like for some unknown reason she and the stranger were adversaries in an unknown battle, a pageant where Georgie was like Cinderella before the Fairy Godmother worked her magic on the lass. Suddenly, Georgie heard an unmistakable giggle, and she noticed like for the first time that in her arms the woman had a young boy, probably around the age of two. 

“Hi” Georgie said, looking quizzically at the young woman right before her; she wondered what the stranger could need, and tried to remember if any family had moved next to them, if maybe, just maybe, she had seen them around, or even in one of Christopher’s family portrait, but she came out empty. 

“Hi,” The blonde answered, clearing her voice a little, and looking rather uncomfortable, the baby fussinga little in her arms . “You must be… Georgia, right? Christopher’s girlfriend?”

Something was wrong; Georgie didn’t know why, but she definitely had a bad feeling about this; the woman didn’t seem to be dangerous or mean them any harm, and yet, she had just that vibe about her- like she was a force of nature about the destroy their fragile existence, sending what they had built into a million of tiny little pieces that would have never been able to fit together once again. 

Georgie didn’t bother to correct her, telling the stranger that her name was actually Georgina, she just quizzically looked at her, the words barely escaping her lips.

“I’m… I don’t think I was able to catch your name?”She simply said.

“Oh, Right!” The woman answered, smiling, and offering Georgie her hand to shake. “I’m Melody- Melody James- and this is Tucker. We were wondering if Christopher was home… a friend of his, I think Buckley, he said I may find him here if he wasn’t at work or at his place....”

Georgie’s eyes were suddenly fixed on the baby boy, and thinking back to the family portrait Chris and his mother had shared with her made her sick to her stomach; those eyes… she would have recognized them everywhere. They were the same eyes that up until a week before she would be waking up to, smiling and gleaming and mischievous.

“Yes, I know,” Melody sighed, sounding tired; and yet, her eyes were filled with love and pride for the bundle in her arms, and it would have been clear to anyone that she would have never regretted the baby in her arms and the sacrifices made for him.. “He is his daddy’s perfect picture…”

Just a short while before, Georgie had used the same expression to describe her life- but in the blink of an eye, she realized she had been mistaken.

Her life wasn’t perfect- but especially, the family she had tried to build wasn’t.


	4. Chapter 4

He wanted to tell her- he really did, and during the dinner- simple and Spartan, like Georgie hadn’t had the strength or the desire to do anything more, he tried tobreach the subject, and only God knew how many times. But words kept failing him. He was scared- he knew what he was risking, and that postponing any confession would only made it worse, made the chances of losing his make-shift family only bigger. And yet, Christopher felt at loss, and he damned himself for not having begged Pride for any more help.

The air he was breathing at home- if he could still call Georgie’s place home anyway- didn’t help as well; it was tense and heavy, and he could see that his fiancé was on the verge of losing it; the last two weeks had weighted way too much on her, between family, work and the situation with him. He should have guessed that the only reason Pride had pried was because he had been asked to- and if he knew Georgie (which he did), it was something she would have normally never done. If she’d asked their boss for help, then she was really desperate, so worried she felt she didn’t have any other choice. 

He shivered all over, tightening his fists under the table so much that his knuckles turned white; he was doing the very thing he had sworn to her he would have never done. He had told her he would have never made her suffer, never broke her heart, but by lying, by keeping the truth from her, he was breaking each and every promise he had ever done. Those promises, and the trust she had put in him, where the only reasons she had stayed in New Orleans, the only reasons why she had given him- given _them_ \- a chance to begin with.

Chris cleared his voice, realizing it was time to speak and be honest and stop hurting her, but Georgie beat him to it. 

“Who’s Melody James?”She suddenly asked as she passed him the salad; she sounded very calm and collected, but a glance at her eyes told him she was feeling quite the opposite. She was calm- _too_ calm- which meant that, inside, she was freaking out, and that the wrong word could have done an unthinkable damage. 

“I was going to tell you.” He simply said, his voice but a whisper, as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva; he was keeping his eyes on the table, unable to meet her gaze, ashamed that she had found out on her own – didn’t matter how-that he hadn’t had the strength to admit that he hadn’t always been a man worth of her love and devotion. 

She chuckled, crossing her arms over the red tablecloth. “Really. Then, how comes I learnt of her just because _she_ showed up at our doorstep- or maybe I should say _my doorstep_ , as you’ve been living at your old place with her for days?”

Chris didn’t know how to answer to that, didn’t know how he was supposed to defend himself; deep down, he was well aware that he couldn’t. He had known that Georgie would have never been mad with him because he had had a baby _before_ meeting her- his mistake had been keeping it a secret and living a double life. Pride and Gregorio had been right when telling him he was being stupid. 

Georgie was barely touching her food, moving it around with her fork as she kept in silence, breathing hard, her eyes almost closed in the semi-darkness of her kitchen. At a certain point, she decided she didn’t care about the food after all, and she left her seat right before Chris at the table. She put, angrily, the cold and smashed leftovers in the trash, sniffing quietly- so quietly that Christopher could barely hear her. But he did- and it was breaking his heart in a million of pieces, guilt engulfing his whole being.

He left his seat, food untouched, and reached her; he hugged her from behind, holding her tiny frame desperately, hiding his nose in her cascade of brown hair, his eyes wet with tears of fear and regrets, but she forced him away, and, facing him and yet never meeting his eyes, she angrily pointed a finger at him.

“Don’t. Just… don’t.” She managed to say, the words barely leaving her lips; Chris didn’t need to be a genius to see how hard it was for her- how painful; she was doing her best to make the best of an awful situation, he could see it, trying to put herself in his shoes, but it wasn’t making it any better, nor it was so easy. “I can’t even look at you right now, Chris.”

They finished cleaning the table in silence, awkwardly avoiding to bump into each other; with Cait deep asleep in her room, the only sound that would break the ice every now and then was her fidgeting with her watch or her bracelet -it was the kind with charms and beads, and he had gotten her it himselffor her birthday, shortly after asking for her hand in marriage, filling it with reminders of what they had already gone through since meeting for the first time. It was like, by playing with it, she was anchoring her to him, she was remembering their shared history and the feelings she held for him.

_ She was in the kitchen making herself coffee when she herd Christopher entering; behaving like he owned the place, he waltzed in, all perfect shiny smile; he took a cup of coffee for himself, then he went to sit in a very inelegant way on a chair, almost laying on it; Georgie simply lifted an eyebrow, sipping her coffee on her feet. _

_ “Now, now, now, now… you can’t be mad with me, Miss Newman. I came bearing gifts!” He chuckled as he took a box from his jacket; it was a classic jewellery box, in black velvet, squared and thin. _

_ Georgie groaned as she went to sit at his side, letting herself fall on the chair as she pouted at her fiancée, her eyes stealing glances at the engagement ring he had given her just a few days before. “You’ve already given me an engagement ring, Chris. I know it’s my birthday, but if you keep buying me things, your family will start believing I’m in for the money…” She said, only half-joking. Still, she couldn’t help but bit her lips as she wondered what the box was hiding inside… _

_ Chris shook his head and chuckled. “C’mon Georgina, you know you want to have a look at it!” _

_ Pouting with smiling eyes, Georgie took the box in her hands and quickly opened it; Chris looked at her quizzically as he didn’t hear her nor gasp or being surprised- instead, she chuckled.  _

_ “Hate to break it to you, LaSalle, but this is not how charm bracelets work. You are supposed to  _ add _charms with time and occasions- not put… how many did you buy anyway? Twenty?”_

_ “Sixteen. I had a lot of missing moments to make up for.” Chris huffed as he took the box from her hands; he took the thin chain in his hands, and carefully and graciously, he put it around her left wrist; he lifted it at eye-level, and started to play with each and every charm, explaining them to her as he went. _

_ “The first one is for your birth- an amethyst and, engraved in the metal, your month, February; a Chinese dragon, for good luck, because there’s never enough of it; a cat – because you are a cat lady, and we’ll definitely get one when we’ll be getting old and grey together on that porch; one with the engraving Flower Girl, because you do love getting bouquets from your beau. Those five are for your cities- New York, where you’ve been born; New Orleans, where we first met; Los Angeles, where you ran away; and then a shiny brand new one of New Orleans- because now you’re finally back where you belonged.” _

_ “And, just of curiosity… what the hell does Paris have to do with me?” _

_ “I was thinking honeymoon.” He paused, just a fraction of second, then he restarted talking, like he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell on her. “ A police badge, a blue N with a star for The Navy, as it happens that they don’t make NCIS charms…” _

_ “And no FBI one? They do those, you know? I’ve seen them!” She chuckled, making fun of him.  _

_ Chris shook his head, nuzzling her neck in the process. “Yeah, a lot of bad blood between FBI and my people. I’m doing everything in my power to forget that you used to be the enemy…” He paused, kissing the skin of her neck soundly and affectionately, then he resumed his explanation. “There’s one of an angel and one of a cross, because you are a believer; a tiny pair of pink slippers, for Cait, and the heart with the piece of quartz for, you know, me.” He admitted, clearing his voice as he blushed of the loveliest shade of pink. _

_ Shaking the bracelet and making it rattle, she sighed. “God, Chris, I swear, you can be so old-fashioned and sophomoric when you want…” _

_ “Haven’t you heard? Those are the making of a true southern gentleman!”  _

Her mobile rang in the next room, and she turned to look at Chris, like she had to explain herself- like he didn’t know her, or anything, at all. “I gotta take this. I don’t want to wake Cait.” She said at low voice as she went to answer her device; from the kitchen, he looked at her pacing the living room, running her hand in her hair, answering whoever was on the other side of the line with just monosyllables.

“Everything’s all right?” He asked as she joined him in the kitchen, telephone in her pocket; she was tense and worried, and unable to meet his eyes, and Christopher wondered if it had been the call to put her in that state, or maybe… it was simply his very presence she couldn’t deal with.

“NOLA PD called me on a case. You mind getting Cait to day-care tomorrow morning?” It was a question- and yet she didn’t wait for an answer and went to grab a light jacket. She was almost out of the door when she turned, and Chris hoped that she would have said something more, that she would have told him that everything was going to be all right, that she loved him and the past was in the past and it didn’t matter who he had been- just who he was in that moment.

But she didn’t.

“Miss Ramirez can look after her if you have to leave.” She simply said, closing the door at her back, the forensic kit, Chris later saw, forgotten in a dark corner of the living room.

“Can I stay over tonight?” Georgie begged as soon as Sonja opened her front door;it was raining hard in New Orleans that night, something Georgie was grateful for; she had parked her Jeep Renegade a bit far from her friend’s place, hoping that walking under the rain would have cleared her head; also, she hoped that Sonja couldn’t say she had been crying all the way from her own place to there, and would mistake her mascara stains for something caused by the pouting rain. “Please?”

Sonja opened the door a bit wider, and left the former FBI agent in; already been there a few times, Georgie remembered where the couch used to be, and immediately went to sit there, her eyes on her joined hands in her lap. She could feel Percy’s presence right before her, could imagine her standing there, arms crossed, with a judgemental look printed on her face- Georgie could actually feel Sonja’s eyes laser-beaming on her; everybody knew that Sonja still had to get used to Tammy and wasn’t her biggest fan- nor she was too enthusiast that her partner’s girlfriend/her friend had become as thick as thieves with the FBI “mole”. But right now Georgie didn’t need Gregorio- whom after all, she didn’t really know, and who had kept this a secret from her; she wasn’t even sure she needed Sonja, but her name had been the first one popping through her fogged brain. Percy had been there when she had been pregnant with Cait- both for her and for Chris too- and she guessed that her help would be needed now as well.

“And here I thought you would have gone to FBI to rant about your arguments with Country Mouse…”Sonja joked, chuckling; but as soon as she saw Georgie’s eyes, and saw that she had been crying, and not merely been under the heavy rain, she gasped, worried, understanding that it was serious and that there was something very wrong with her friends.

“Promise me you’ won’t get mad with Chris.” Georgie said. She could have been mad with him,but Chris… he was her Chris. She still loved him- that was why it hurt so much knowing that he had lied to her, that he had felt like he couldn’t trust her with this news- and he had been her friend for many years. She didn’t want to think about his partner not watching his back because of her. 

Sonja went to sit at Georgie’s side, an hand on the older woman’s knee, like to reassure her of her presence, and stood in silence, waiting for her partner’s fiancé to open up, whenever she felt ready.

“He has a son.” She finally said, after the longest time, her eyes looking into the void. “Chris. He has a son. His name is Tucker, and, he must be around two, I think.” Sonja’s hand moved from Georgie’s bouncing knee to the woman’s left hand, and while they again stood in silence, she never let it go of her; they were both staring in the distance, one angry, the other surprised. 

“He had known for over two weeks- he and Gregorio and now Pride too- and none of them thought that I deserved to be informed. And I had to pry it from him. I had to be the one to ask him who the hell Melody James was and why she went around saying she was the mother of his son…” She paused, sobbing but full of strength and rage, her voice thought, like a hissing serpent. “All he had to say in his defence was that he would have eventually told me… and… with a tone that… he wanted to make me the bad guy!  I… I couldn’t even look at him, Sonja, I just… I made  a simulated call and told him I had to give a look at a crime scene. For NOLA PD.”

Sonja shook her head, huffing, letting her whole body fell heavily against the back of the couch; her eyes still focused on some non-important item right before her on the other side of the room, her mind was, instead, a million miles away. She wondered why Christopher hadn’t trusted her with this piece of information . Why he had gone to Gregorio instead. And mostly, why in the world he had kept it a secret from Georgie, jeopardizing what they had and their future.

Sonja wasn’t an idiot- she knew Christopher quite well; she knew he had probably done it with the best intentions, but he should have remembered how it had taken him over a year to win Georgie’s trust, how, still now, she would wonder buts and what ifs every now and then.

Of course the idiot had done it all with the best of intentions.

Unfortunately, it was still backfiring anyway. 

“Sonja… I just… can I stay over tonight? Please…” Georgie repeated, looking at her, her own voice so low it was but a whisper; she looked younger than her years- younger, and frail and vulnerable. “Chris isn’t an idiot- he knows that I’ll be somewhere safe to work off the rage. I just… I can’t get back there and face him. Not when he’s been keeping this for me for over two weeks. Not when… when I found out because _she_ showed up at our doorstep- ifI can call it like that, considering that Chris is never there so I’m not even sure we are still living together to begin with!” Georgie barked as she started to pace the room, gesticulating heavily to make her point; Sonja groaned, knowing that she was going to end up right in the middle of this battle, without having an actual saying, with Country Mouse and City Girl butting heads.

Then, she registered what Georgie had said and looked at the woman, not sure she could actually believe it. “Whoa. Rewind and repeat. Did you just say that _she_ showed up at your place?” She screeched, as indignant as Georgie was furious. 

“Oh, yes. Like I said, dear old Christopher LaSalle didn’t come cleanbecause he wanted to set himself free or, God forbid it, he thought _I_ deserved to know this. Nope. He came clean because I asked him point blankwho the hell Melody James was and why she had come to _my_ door telling _m_ e that she hadson with my fiancé.” 

“Oh, boy…” Sonja murmured, her eyes wide open, in a manner that wasn’t so dissimilar from her mouth.

“Yeah. And when he said that he and Miss young, gracious, tall, blonde, slim, charming and innocent and beautiful southern belle have, indeed, a son, all he had to say in his defence was that he was “about the tell me. I just don’t… I don’t even know if I can believe him, if he really wanted to tell me or he told me just because _I_ asked him directly- because she showed up at my place! And… how can I believe him any longer after this? How can I trust him? And to think that… that I wanted to say no to a job in California for _him_! Because, all right, it was an offer too good to pass, and _of course_ California is filled with NCIS offices, but, did I really wanted to take _him_ away from _his life, his city_? I just… I can’t believe I was renouncing to everything I ever wanted since I was a teenager for someone… someone like him! You know what? If I were a worse person, which I’m not, I would show him the same consideration and pack my things in the middle of the night without as much as a goodbye!”

Sonja didn’t say a word; she just looked at Georgie, stern, like a disappointed parent. 

“Yes, I know, there’s no need to look at me like that. Like I said, I’m the better adult here, which means that I’d never do something like that to Chris.” Georgie sighed, shaking her head as her eyes were glistering with unshed tears. “I just… I love him- I mean, it’s not like I can stop loving him overnight, and, I don’t want to. But, it hurt. He’s been… living this double life for over two weeks, spending time with me and Cait at my place when he wasn’t at work or with Melody and Tucker at his old apartment. And… I think she was… sad. I don’t think she wanted to hurt me intentionally… she was…surprised I guess. Like she didn’t know of me either.Which I think was the case.”

Sonja shook her head, looking worried at Georgie; her voice was low, like she was scared to say the words out loud- so scared she didn’t even end the sentence. “Do you think that they…”

“Slept together? No.” Georgie said, calmly and sure. “Chris knows I’ve been cheated on. That this isn’t something I would have forgiven. But, he knew that I would have tried to put myself in his shoes.”

“He’d deserve some payback, though.” Sonja chuckled, darkly, picking at her fingernails. “You two need to talk, though, you need to clear this out before someone else gets involved.”

_ Everyone is already involved _ , Georgie wanted to say, but she kept it to herself; it wasn’t just the fact that many of their co-workersknew of the baby, it was the fact that, at the end of the day, she was still the new girl, the outsider, and if they were to go and pick a side up, she knew it would have been Chris’. 

Hell, deep down (very, very deep down) she wasn’t even sure if she couldn’t take his side in all of this…

“We will talk, I promise.” She said, hands in the pockets of her jeans. “I just… I need some time to clear my head first.”

_ And I need to find a way to not end up broken in a million of pieces again…both me and my baby girl. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Georgie's charm bracielet:  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

“You are an idiot, you know that, right?”

Christopher groaned in pain as he massaged the back of his head- the same spot Percy had just slapped, quite hard, while arriving at his back while he was sitting at his desk; she was looking at him with mixed emotions- it was as clear as day that she was worried, but she showed also signs of being… mad, he would have said. Maybe even annoyed, or just plain irritated- with _him_.

“Let me guess- last night Georgina wasn’t at a crime scene, but at _your_ place, telling you how _I_ single-handed ruined everyone’s life, especially _hers.”_ He chuckled, darkly, shaking his head. “Did she mention that she was so madthat she couldn’t even stand staying in the same _building_ as me, let alone looking _at my face_?” 

Her eyes filled with worry, Sonja shook her head, and, taken a chair, she went to sit at Chris’ side.

“What did you want her to do, go to Pride asking for his help? Would you really have been any happier if she’d come to him or, God help you, to _Gibbs_ for advice?” She chuckled, grasping his shoulder in sympathy. “You better hope he never finds out, because I’ve seen how he is with the girl, and it wouldn’t end well for you, Country Mouse.”

They stood in silence at each other’s side, Sonja looking at Christopher, Christopher’s eyes fixed on his joined hands in his lap; until he spoke- without, though, lifting his eyes. “Melody is my son’s mother. What I was supposed to do?”

Sonja shook her head, sighing; she didn’t like where this conversation was going, but there were things that needed to be said, words that Chris needed to hear, and she probably was the best person for the job; Pride would have gone too sweet on him, Gregorio and the others didn’t know him well enough, and Meredith, well, she was gone now, moved to another life in another place. But _she_ knew him- and she had never been one to sweeten the deals. Never, ever. 

“Yeah, but you also are the father of Georgie’s daughter.” She said, stern. “Unless it was all a game to you, and you decided that, after all, now that you’ve got your own family, you don’t want her any longer.”

“I got her pregnant!” Chris practically screamed at the top of his lungs, lifting his eyes but never looking at Percy. “What the hell do you all expect me to do?!”

“Ok, listen, no one here is asking you to do the impossible, all right? No one says that you need to have a relationship with this Melody girl or that you have to push her away, just, you should be careful, both with Georgie and this woman.” 

Chris shook his head; he looked around, making sure that no one had been there for his outburst, then, sighing, he turned towards his partner, friend and confident. 

“You know how I used to be after Savannah’s death. It was a dark time, I slept around a lot, I did things I’m not proud of. But… It’s not who I am any longer, and… I just want to do the right thing, but I don’t know what it is. Nor if there is any chance of not hurting somebody.”

“Tell me you are sure.” Sonja told him, calmly but sternly. “At least, tell me you are sure that baby’s yours.”

Christopher sighed, his eyes fixed on the ground. “I don’t know. I mean… he looks just like me- even Georgie saw that. And… the math definitely works.”

“Yeah, well, a lot of people uses to say that Cait looks just like you, and yet you are not her biological dad.” Sonja groaned, shaking her head; she knew that Christopher had good intentions- 99.9% of the times he did- but he wasn’t being smart about this. As much as she card for him, she needed to call him on his bullshit, stat. “LaSalle,don’t be an idiot about this, all right? I mean, how well do you know this girl? How can you know for sure that she isn’t just after your money? You are practically oil royalty, Chris- don’t get me wrong, but a DNA test should have been your first thought. Especially because she waited so long to show up to begin with.”

Chris sighed, his voice louder as he spoke again. “He is mine, trust me. I know that people says that Cait looks like me- but that boy… trust me, I know what I’m talking about here.” Yes- maybe he didn’t know what he was doing or what he was supposed to do, but he definitely knew what he was talking about, and how serious it was.

“Yeah, well.” Sonja said, standing up quickly, irritated that Chris didn’t even want to hear her out, that he was oh so sure to be right yet again. “You better hope it’s at least your real son you are losing Georgie over.”

Sonja was walking away, and before she was out of the room, Chris stood, and talked with her; he was starting to get annoyed- with Georgie for having shared details with Sonja, and with Sonja for having taken Georgie’s side without having heard him out, or tried to put herself in his shoes. He knew he couldn’t make everyone happy- but he had to try, at least. He was doing his best, given the circumstances. He thought he would have been allowed at least that. 

“I’m not losing anyone, all right? We are hitting a rough patch, but that’s all.”

From her place at the door, Sonja turned, and chuckled darkly, like she pitied him, like he didn’t understand anything at all. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure that if she moves back to Cali, you ain’t gonna be part of her sweet old life any longer…” 

“What?” He simply said, staying on the spot; Sonja chuckled, and madeher way back to him, slowly, her arms crossed; she hada mean smile on her face, an expression Chris didn’t like one bit. 

“Oh, your Belle didn’t say anything? Well, apparently Raydor offered her a job back home- an opportunity, and I’m quoting her here, _too good to pass.”_

“No.” Chris said, his eyes semi-closed, like the light could hurt him, like he wanted to be blind to the truth. “No. She didn’t tell me anything.”

“Are you saying you are the only one with secrets, LaSalle, or are you calling me a liar?” Sonja asked, getting angry; Chris should have known her better- should have known she wasn’t taking sides for the sake of it, but trying to make them see some sense. “She didn’t tell you anything because she wasn’t interested in an out-of-state job when _your own life_ was in this city. She didn’t want to take you away from what makes you happy. But now, guess what?I don’t see any reason why she should stay here, with a man who broke her heart and couldn’t keep any of the promises he made her.”

“She wouldn’t…” Chris breathed in and out, groaning, seeing red. What did he know, after all? He hadn’t even known himself- how could he know _her,_ then?She had kept things from them too- she hadn’t told them- told _him_ \- of Keith, or the pregnancy, or, apparently, her job- all because she didn’t want for anyone to get hurt. Couldn’t she see he had done the same thing? “I was trying to do what’s right… _I’m_ trying to do what’s best for everyone!”

But Sonja simply looked at him, sad, pitiful. “Well, Chris, you know the old saying… _the road to hell is paved with good intentions_ …”

“Where you going to tell me?” As soon as she heard Chris talking at her back, Georgie turned,dirty plates still in hand; she looked at the man she had thought she knew, quizzically, not really understanding what he meant: at her silence, Christopher paced the short distance between them,and he got so close to Georgie that he could have practically breathed her own air. 

“What did you plan to do anyway?” He continued, hissing in her face, angry, dark, a shadow of the man she had thought she knew. “Pack up and leave without as much as a goodbye, after everything we’ve been through? After what we are for each other? For God’s sake, Georgie, we’ve got a _daughter_ together!” 

If she had been willing to hear him out- maybe even forgive him- when he had first walked past the door, now it was a whole other matter; Georgie didn’t appreciate how he was trying to turn the tables on her; when she had first seen Chris, her lips had been graced by a small smile, but that shadow wasn’t any longer there.

“We haven’t seen each other in almost two days. I would have expected, if not the courtesy of knocking at _my_ door, that you would have at least said hello, or asked me how I was.” She said with contempt, her eyes cold, her arms crossed like to protect herself.

“Well, apparently you better be careful who you confide in. Percy told me of the job in California.” Chris chuckled, shaking his head. “Apparently, I’m not the only one with secrets, sweetheart.”

Georgie would have wanted to shake her head, maybe even cry, but she didn’t, not wanting to give Chris this victory, to show him how much she felt broken. She wasn’t even suffering any longer. She was _way_ beyond that. 

She was mad. Furious. And all she wanted to do was hurting him as much as he had hurt- and was still hurting- her. 

It was why, even if she regretted her next words even before they would leave her mouth, she said them anyway. 

“You, Christopher?” She chuckled, using his full name, something she hadn’t done in _years._ “This has nothing to do with you. _You_ have nothing to do with any of this. You haven’t been through anything… _I did_ , and don’t pretend to know how I’ve ever felt or that we are oh, so similar or that we’ve been through the same things, because trust me- you don’t know anything. At all. And Caitlin…”

She felt bile rising in her throat as the venomous words left her mind to be said out loud; she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell them, because she was well aware of how much they would have hurt him, how dangerous they would have been for them. Suddenly, though, she didn’t care; it was childish, immature or who knew what else, but it didn’t matter, for she just wanted to get back at Chris. 

“Caitlin is _my_ daughter, and it’s my duty to protect her. From everything, and everyone.”She didn’t need to add _you included,_ for it was as clear as day what she thought, that they were her next words.

Chris closed his eyes, shaking his head as words didn’t want to escape his lips. “You don’t really…”

She didn’t allow him to end the sentence; it was like a dam had been broken, and now she had to tell him everything, anything, no matter how twisted or evil or painful it was.

“You remember what you told me once, when I confessed you I was pregnant? That you’ve always been a family man, but were afraid of playing, what were the words? _Playing genetic Russian roulette,_ I think you said.” She spat as she left the kitchen and moved to the living room, without bothering to look at Chris as she spoke with him. “Well, trust me, your son’s perfect, so now you can stop playing family with us and you can go to Melody. You’ll not have to pretend with her, as she really has your kid- not like with me, which I’m basically someone else’s leftovers.”

She started to tidy the room, rearrange pillows- there were so many of them Christopher couldn’t stand it- and everything she could put her hands on; she knew it would have driven him mad, that he would have assumed she was dismissing him, but she didn’t care. 

“That boy’s my kid! What do you exactly expect me to do?” He said, following her around, arms wide open, exasperated. 

“Are you even sure?” She asked him, too calm for his own taste; she knew how she sounded, she was exhausted and exasperated, and she even hated herself a little bit as she told him so. “Or is this just an excuse? Maybe you are just already sick of playing house with me. Got cold feet as soon as you gave me your ring… let me guess, it’s exactly how it sounds, you are not the problem, but _I am_.”

Chris groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose at closed eyes; he cleared his voice and took a big breath, wanting to not be the bad guy, wanting to be calm and collected; he knew that Georgie just wanted to make him feel bad because he had kept the truth from his family, but he also knew that he had to be the one to keep a levelled head or they both would have said thingsthat they would have regretted- things with the potential to break them once and for all.

“Georgie, I know I was wrong. That I shouldn’t have kept anything from you. But it’s my son, and some way or another, I have to take responsibility, and…”

“Take responsibility?!” She practically screamed, as she faced him, like a rapid dog, not giving a damn that the whole neighbourhood would hear her and their heated argument. “And what about your responsibilities towards _us_? We are your family too, and you’ve been barely around in the last few weeks, because you’d rather be with _her_!”

“You told me to deal with Melody!” He hissed as he pointed an accusing finger at her.

“I told you to deal with her, not keep from me that you’ve discovered that she is the mother of your son!”

“I just wanted to protect us, Georgie.” He said, his voice low, his shoulders curved; it was like, in an instant, the whole weight of the situation had started to hurt him, had made itself known.

“I am your fiancé, Chris, and you lied to me. All the people at work knew, but not _me_ , the one you were supposed to confide in. How do you think that it makes me feel?” Chris opened his mouth as to speak, but she stopped him, pointing an accusing finger at him from across the couch. “And don’t you dare talking about responsibilities or doing the right thing, because you don’t get to turn me into the bad guy, here.” Because she wasn’t. He had been the one starting the fight. And maybe, well, she could also blame Sonja a little bit. She knew the former ATF agent wanted to do the right thing, but by not keeping her big mouth shout, she had actually made them worse.

“Well, I’m no saint, but at least I didn’t plan on moving on the other side of the Country without telling you first!” _But the moment Melody would leave, you’d follow her, that’s for sure,_ she thought, but didn’t say at loud. Even if she was really temped to. 

“Well now you know, and besides, I haven’s answered Raydor yet, so I don’t see what’s the big deal anyway.” Huffing, she kept tiding up, like he wasn’t even there, orlike they weren’t talking about something important. 

“I know only because Percy told me- and what do you mean, you haven’t answered Raydor _yet_? You thinking about actually taking the job with LAPD? Moving back to LA for real?”

She walked across the room, and, huffing,she moved some of her family pictures a bit, doing nothing but irritating Chris furthermore.

“I just said I haven’t answered anything yet; Raydor isn’t just my old boss- we still are friends, and I thought it would have been polite not refusing her offer point blank.” She paused, turning to face Chris. “And anyway, I wouldn’t be back in Los Angeles. It’d be a manager position with the State Police, in Sacramento. A dream job for anyone, if you ask me.”

“So you _do_ want to leave.” Chris paused,livid and scared; he knew he had upset her, hurt her, but, still, she still had his ring on her finger, they were planning a future together, or at least they had. And now, _she_ was planning on moving across the Country, and he didn’t even get a say in this, the man she had wanted to be the father of her own child?

“I don’t know what I want any longer, Chris.” She sighed, sad and resigned, massaging her eyes. “I just… I don’t want to be the bad guy here, but I’m sick and tired of playing victim for all the men in my life. And… I know you. I know you didn’t want to hurt me, and that you thought you were doing the right thing, but… I’m not sure I’m strong enough to deal with this.” 

Chris shook his head; his eyes were teary, because he knew where she was going, and all he wanted was to change her mind. “There’s nothing to deal with… she may be my son’s mother, but it was long before you. It’s you I love- I gave you my ring because I want to spend the rest of my life with _you_.”

“I know.” She sighed, sniffing lightly. “But he i _s_ your son- your _real_ son. Wheatear you want it or not, he’ll always come first, andI don’t want for Cait to have a father like my own-one who can’t be there for her or love her like she deserves to.”

On the baby monitor, they both heard Cait fussing in her crib, back in the nursery;Georgie lowered her eyes and, taking a big breath, she slowly and methodically took the charms bracelet off; as her baby’s cry intensified, she took Chris’ hands in her own, and when she took a few steps back, the young man opened his fist to find inside both the engagement ring and the bracelet. 

“Are you really going to leave?” He asked her, his voice low, already knowing the answer; she was at the door of the nursery, and she stopped, turning slightly to look at him. _Are you really going to leave me?_ He wanted to say, but the words didn’t want to leave his mouth. He couldn’t bring himself to say them. Because otherwise, it would have made everything so much more real- even more than getting the ring back.

Georgie shook her head. “I don’t know. I just, I need time to think, Chris. And… I think you should leave now.” She paused before entering the room. “ _Please_.” She begged, and in her voice, he heard how much she was hurting too.

She picked her daughter up from her crib, singing her a sweet lullaby, her voice broken by tears that were wetting the soft dark curls of the child-it was a luxury she was allowing herself only because she had heard the front door being closed, because she knew that Chris wasn’t there any longer to see how affected she was by the whole ordeal.

It felt like a final goodbye.

And she didn’t know if she wanted for Chris to get back, plea his cause or accept that, maybe, just maybe, she had been always right.

Men left her. They broke her. 

And Christopher LaSalle wasn’t any different.


	6. Chapter 6

He couldn’t stop looking at the ring. 

As soon as he had back gotten to his old apartment, Chris had gone into the kitchen, retrieved an old bottle of Whiskey and poured himself a glass; he hadn’t drank a single drop, though; in the semi-darkness of his apartment, he had taken the ring and the bracelet out of his pocket and put them on the isle, unable to focus on anything else but what had just happened. 

The lights from outside were enlightening the diamond between the two small pearls, and lively music came from the streets; to an outside looking in, it would have seemed a magical atmosphere, if not for the young man’s expression. He shook his head, taking the glass in hand and then abandoning it yet again;he paced the room, running his hands through his military short hair, sighing, trying to find an answer, a solution.

Only, he didn’t have any. It was all out of his hands now. He had made a mistake, knowing what he was getting himself into, and now he was paying the price. He would have never admitted it with anyone, but maybe- just maybe- Gregorio had always been right; maybe he should have followed her advice, and be honest with the people who mattered the most to him.

His eyes fell on the bottle and the glass on the kitchen isle, and angry - and maybe even a bit disappointed- with himself, Chris took the both of them and threw the amber liquid into the sink, chuckling and feeling satisfied for the first time in a long while. It was a small consolation, knowing that he was still strong enough to not be the man he had once been- the one who loved drinking, partying and sleeping around. 

He couldn’t allow himself any longer to be _that_ kind of man- not when he had… family. Tucker was his blood, but it didn’t matter what Georgie said- he loved her baby with all of himself. He would have never put his son before Cait- _his daughter._ It had never been about biology, even if Georgie didn’t want to understand it- even if she _couldn’t_ understand it.He loved Caitlin. He had loved her since the moment Georgie had told him she was expecting- and had fallen hopelessly head over heels with the tiny miracle when she had kicked him from her mum’s belly.No matter what her surname was. No matter where she was. That child would have always been in his heart and his mind- Cait was going to be his child until his last breath.

“Chris? Is everything all right?” He lifted his eyes from the sink and quizzically looked at the kitchen door as he heard someone whisper; in the dark, he could see Melody’s frame, and from her tone of voice, she sounded worried. 

About him. 

If even Melody was worried for him, well, then he really looked like hell. And he had broken up with his girlfriend just the day before. He still had to fully register what had happened. Fully accept that there was a good chance that he would have never seen his love, nor “their” child anymore. 

“Yeah.” He lied, trying to sound relaxed and cheerful, just as much as Old Chris did. He didn’t want to upset Melody- because he had already gotten that when she was upset, Tucker used to pick up on that, and he would be upset too.

But it was a lie. He was a big fat liar- lying to everyone, himself included. Nothing was all right or even fine. Georgie and Cait were gone from his life, and without his name on a certificate, he would have never gotten a saying in anything. It was just like he had told Pride a few months before: he had no right to ask her to stay, and even less so to follow her around.

He had failed. Again. He had told his family that he had been _so blessed_ to find love again- to find the woman he wanted to get old with- and just like he had done with Savannah, he had lost her.

Melody waked into the room, slowly, careful, like he was a scarred animal, and when her eyes fell on the ring, she left out a strangled “oh”, filled with what Christopher guessed being the worse feeling ever, the one he had never wished to be on the receiving end of. 

_ Pity.  _

“I’m sorry, Chris.” She simply said; her arms crossed, her voice low, he could hear in her voice the honesty, and the regrets, the shame. Emotions she had no place feeling- not when he had been the one at fault, this time. 

He shook his head, shrugging. “Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. That’s how Georgie is, after all- when she feels too much, she gets scared and run away. And besides, it’s my fault anyway- I should have never talked her into staying. Maybe New Orleans had never been her place. She only stayed because of me.”

“I saw your baby girl, Cait- she is beautiful.” In the dark, he could see the young woman shaking her head, sighing. “I’m sorry. Had I known that you already had a family now, I wouldn’t have come.”

“It’s hers.” He admitted, his voice low, his heart breaking a little as he said the words out loud. He had never corrected anyone before- everyone assumed he was Cait’s father. Even few relatives of his- and of hers- believed it to be true. By all means, and not just emotionally speaking.“I already loved her, but… there used to be someone else. When she found out she was pregnant, they weren’t together any longer, and I stepped in. Not because she asked me to, or because she needed anyone…”

“Yeah, she does look like the strong, resilient type…” Melody said, chuckling, her back leaning against the kitchen isle.

“I did it because I wanted to. Because I wanted to be that baby’s dad in the worst way possible.”

“Why didn’t you…” she said, not exactly knowing how she was supposed to finish the sentence to begin with. 

_ Why didn’t you tell us of each other?  _

_ Why didn’t you tell me you had a woman, that that was what you meant when you said things were different?  _

_ Why didn’t you confessed her you had had a son before getting together with her? _

“I don’t know.” Chris admitted, huffing and running his left hand in his short hair. “I just… wanted to compartmentalize things a little. Take my time. Not because I don’t believe you, but because, I don’t know. I just, I didn’t know how to tell her. I was scared she would have over-reacted, but I waited too long,…”

“And she over-reacted anyway.” She finished the sentence for him.

“Yeah.” He puffed, nervous, but feeling there were things that needed saying. There was something Mel needed to hear- something he had to be clear about. “I swear, Mel- the thought of keeping my foot in two shoes never crossed my mind. It had never been about getting you to sleep with me again. For real.”

She smiled, tenderly, just the outline of her smile visible with so little light coming from outside. “You don’t need to tell me that. I know it’s just not the kind of man you are.”

“I’m not even sure I know what kind of man I am any longer.” Chris sighed, looking at Mel through semi closed eyes. “All I ever wanted since I saw Georgie in the garden was being with her. And I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get her back. I lost her, and it’s all my fault, because I keep wasting time and opportunities and being scared.” 

“Oh, Chris...” Melody said, hugging him, rubbing his back; there was nothing sensual, nothing romantic in that. She didn’t want any of that- getting in bed with him had never been her objective, despite how she had acted out with the young man; when she had drove back to New Orleans,she had believed that she would have found the same man she had met years before. But a glance had told her everything she needed to know, that that man wasn’t there any longer. This Chris still made mistakes- but he was a better version of the guy she had met at the Music Festival. Sex wouldn’t have worked with him.

She just wanted to comfort him- like a _friend_. Because this was what she wanted to be for Christopher. She couldn’t allow herself to fall for him again, not when she had his son; Chris loved the woman he had given that ring to: things would have never worked out between the two of them, and Tucker would have been left paying the price. But friends? They could do that. And truth to be told… that wasn’t the only thing she wanted.

When the guys at the bar belonging to Chris’ boss had told her where she could find him- that he probably was at his girlfriend’s- and that they had a baby together, she had been… relieved. Chris was a good man- maybe a bit of a womanizer, but a monogamist at heart. He would have been a good father without asking for anything in return from her, and the woman he wanted to marry couldn’t be so different from him.

When the woman Chris called Georgie had opened the door with her daughter in her arms, Mel had honestly believed that the two of them could have become- eventually, one day- friends; they could have helped each other out, confide their fears, and their children- _Chris’ children_ \- would have grown up close to each other. Almost like real siblings. They would have had sleepovers. Gone to the same schools looking after each other.

But she had been wrong. 

She hadn’t counted on Chris’ fears, and Georgie’s broken heart.

 

 

“Ehy, Pride, do you know if Georgie is coming back or not?”

As he was talking with Loretta over a dead body, Pride turned to look at Sebastian as soon as he heard the young crime scene specialist’s voice;for the longest time, he didn’t say anything, then, he looked from Loretta to Sebastian and then Loretta again, quizzically and a bit surprised. 

“She’s not here? I thought she was holed up in the lab with you, like her usual!”

Loretta shook her head, sighing, sadness and disappointment clear in her expression; she covered the dead body with a sheet, then she took a few steps and went to lean against the closest wall, arms crossed as she looked at Pride’s clear eyes. 

“She dropped by a couple of days ago, took all of her vacation time. Said she needed time off to _ponder new opportunities_ ” She said, air-quoting the last three words, her voice heavy with disappointment- just like Sebastian. The young man was still sad and disappointed because of Meredith and the way she had “ended” things with the team, barely telling Pryde and Miss Loretta she was quitting. Yes, with Meredith it had been different because Sebastian had had a huge crush on her, but even the chance that Georgie would leave hurt him, saddened him. She was a friend, after all, and a fellow scientist and nerd. One who had showed him there could be more to him than a microscope. She had been one of the cool guys, after all- an angry little princess, like Chris used to call her, but a badass with a gun.

“Yep. And she wasn’t wearing her engagement ring. I take it as a bad omen.” Sebastiansighed as well, shaking his head; when two couple of eyes focused on him, he pouted, sighing dramatically, a little offended that no one would take in good consideration his detective skills; he had escaped a prison and been bad-ass about it and yet he still got almost no respect whatsoever. “What? I notice those kinds of things! And that’s reason enough why I should be an agent!”

“She and Christopher broke up?” Pride sighed, rolling his eyes, a bit exasperated. “He didn’t tell me anything… at least now I know why he has been looking likea ghost lately…”

“The voices I’ve heard… is it true? That Christopher has a son?” Loretta whispered as soon as she saw Sebastian’s attention wearing off, his mind focused on yet another forensic mystery; Pride simply nodded, biting his cheek. “Do you think this is why they broke up?”

“I don’t know…” Pride joined her, his left elbow gently nuzzling her left one, mimicking her very position. “I told Christopher that he had to be smart about this, but you gotta remember that Georgina had had trust issues with men for the longest time….”

Loretta smiled of a little smile, as her eyes were looking far away, in the void, her mind somewhere else- not another place, but another time. “You know, Pride, I got Noah on this very table, over fifteen years ago. And I still remember when his wife- this twenty-five years girl- came here to recognize his body. Burying your loved ones, you never forget it. Getting to trust Christopher ,accepting that she had fallen _again_ for a man who risked his life for a living, it hasn’t been easy for her -our girl has been in a very dark place for a long time, Dwayne. If Christopher hurt her, I can assure you she didn’t deserve it. And if she has trust issues, well, she has all the reasons to. Just sayin’.” 

“I don’t think Christopher wanted to hurt her. He just found himself in an impossible situation- someone _had_ to get hurt.”

Loretta shook her headas she made her way back to the body. “My friend, you should know by now that some wounds you heal from; others, Dwayne, you aren’t so lucky. Sometimes, even this city isn’t enough.” 

 

“Christopher, a word?” as Pride entered the “office” after his chit-chat with Loretta, he immediately approached Chris’ desk, and waved the young man to follow him into the kitchen; at his back, Gregorio chuckled, shaking her head and smiling.

“What do you think your Country Mouse got himself into this time?” She asked Sonja; the former ATF agent was looking at the two men entering Pride’s kitchen, her eyes a bit lost, her expression a little sad. “Well, Percy?”

“What did you tell him?” She suddenly asked Gregorio; she stood up, and reached the FBI woman, looming over her on the other side of the desk. “When he told you about his kid, what was exactly your suggestion, FBI?”

Gregorio rolled her eyes, sighing; frankly, she thought that she and Sonja had somehow… bounded over common stories, and the similar bad taste in men showed in the past. All right, she wasn’t crazy about being back in NOLA, and couldn’t wait to get back into the Capitol, but it had more to do with what her ex-husband had done to the City, how the city itself reminded her of her past mistakes, than with the team itself. She liked them- really. Each and every one of them. 

The Lively Christopher and Patton. 

The wise Loretta and Pride. 

Honest Sonja and Georgie- especially them, and especially Sonja. 

Geeky Sebastian, with the heart of a lion when he wanted to.

“I told him to tell her, that by keeping it to himself, she would have had suspicions. Doubts.”

“You sure that’s what you told him to say?” Sonja asked, lifting an eyebrow. Again, Gregorio rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, I told him- again and again and again. So much I got bored of repeating it every five seconds. And anyway, he didn’t tell _me_. I met the Boiler Bunny and she told me point blanc Chris was her baby daddy. Kind of like she was talking about the weather.”

“Which is basically how she told Georgie, from what I heard….” Sonja sighed, shaking her head, looking at the kitchen where Chris and Pride had hid themselves for a little chat between adults.

“You kidding!” Sonja shook her head at Tammy’s scandalized tone.

“Georgie slept at my place a few days ago. Ursula….”

“Melody, you mean?” Gregorio asked quizzically.

“Yeah, I like to refer to Country Mouse and his conquests as Disney Characters. Georgie’s Belle. Anyway. She came overafter Ursula had showed up looking for Chris. And you know something? Ursula didn’t know of Georgie either. And apparently, Georgie can’t hate her because she has been _nice_.”

“Boiler Bunny? Nice? Are you sure we are talking about the same person?”

Sonja shrugged. “Apparently, the problem isn’t that Chris has a son- but that he had forgotten to share that he and the baby mammy were back in the picture. She kind of forced it out of him over dinner. Then came over.”

Gregorio sighed. “That man’s an idiot. You listen to me, he gets everything he deserves and some more…”

“Yeah, well, what he is getting now? It’s an ex-girlfriend who’s moving to California with her child… and ain’t talking about Ursula here…” 

 

“So, Christopher, tell me? What are you planning of doing with Georgie?” Pride asked, sipping some water directly from the bottle; standing on his feet, Chris sighed, his right hand playing with the ring in the pocket of his jeans; he had changed clothes since Georgie had left him, but every time he put on something clean, he would yet again put the ring in his pocket- like to give him hope. Like she would walk past the door, tell him she was… that everything was fine and she wanted the ring back asap. 

Sighing, his head heavy, he dropped the ring right before Pride. “She called the wedding off, King. Not sure what I can do- other than give her time and space. Figured that pursuing herhead on wouldn’t help.”

Pride chuckled. “Yeah, well, everything’s fine and well, but I wouldn’t wait too much- last time you did, Keith happened, you remember, right?”

“How could I forget it?” Chris chuckled, his mind back to the previous year.“I’m gonna get her back, King. I know that’s what I want. I’ll show her I can be the kind of man she needs- the kind of man she believed me to be.”

“Christopher, son,” Pride told him, grabbing himfor a shoulder, just like a father would- the kind of thing Chris’ father had never done for either of his children. “You do that, it can’t be just about what you think she needs. I tried it with Linda, making it work for Laurel, being the man she had fallen in love with… and you remember what happened. You want to save your relationship, you gotta do it for yourself, because _you_ want to. Because _you_ need to. All right?”

“Ehy, guys, you talking about Georgie?” Sonja asked as soon as she entered the kitchen. “Because there’s something you need to see, then…” 


	7. Chapter 7

She wasn’t even supposed to be at the bank; that morning, she had taken Cait, the stroller and decided to walk the French Quarter to clear her mind- and stay as far away from the NCIS building as possible. But then, she had remembered she was running out of formula, and that maybe, while she was at it, she could get another couple of things for the baby -and for her, too. 

Vanilla-scented hand-cream. Violet of Prussia body lotion. Lemon shampoo. J’Adore perfume. Morocco Argan Oil & Iris hand soap. Someone once told her that surrounding herself with natural, sweet scents after a break up would have made her feel better. Well, who knew, she could at least try. After all, she had spent days crying her eyes out during the daylight, and sleepless nights where all she could do was try to console her crying daughter- that little child who seemed to feel how her “daddy” wasn’t there with her any longer.

She wondered if Cait could feel how bad her mum felt, too; she knew she had said things she wasn’t supposed to, too much, things that weren’t true, but she had been too mad, too proud, and now she missed Chris, and all she wanted to do was making up with him- and make out with him- but she didn’t know if she could. Maybe she had crossed the line- not just with her words, but by giving him the engagement ring back.

She was too proud to admit she had been wrong, anyway.

And besides, she didn’t know if he would have forgiven her for what she hadsaid, too.

Huffing, she had walked in the store to buy something to treat herself a little, but she had suddenly remembered that she didn’t have any cash on her; she had her debit card on her, but she wasn’t sure the chip would work, as it had given her issues lately- she had the bad habit of putting the card in her pockets, together with change and keys, which was, as Chris used to say, _no Bueno_. 

So, she had left the store and walked the short distance to the bank, thankful that, given the time, there was a good chance that she would have finished in an hurry; when she had entered in the hall of the small local branch of her bank, she was glad to see that there was just another four or five people waiting in different lines; ten, fifteen minutes, and she would have gone back to her shopping, to a day dedicated to herself and her baby alone.

There was just a guy right before her, a clumsy middle-aged guy with almost no hair at all, when she heard the door being opened, and someone couching- a nervous cough, from the sound of it; she had turned, rather distracted, and saw two guys walking towards the cashier, sporting sunglasses and caps, but then the guy before her had moved on and, once her turn, she had stopped to pay attention to her surroundings. 

She was taking some cash when she heard the noise of something- or rather, someone- falling; on instinct, she turned, maybe more out of curiosity than anything else, and saw the guy who had been before her in line on the ground, on his back, a position similar to that of one of the young men who had entered last, his sunglasses and hat on the ground at his side.

“I’m, I’m so sorry, I just, I don’t know what’s wrong with me today… I’m not usually… like that. Well, actually, I am, but never this much, but…” Until a moment before, he had been cheerful- embarrassed, but still happy, not caring too much what people would have said about him. But when he had uttered those last few words, Georgie could swear she had heard him gulping down a mouthful of saliva, too. 

Then… he screamed, a primal, terrific scream of fear, followed by the sound she hated the most in the whole wide world. 

_ A gunshot.  _

As soon as the middle aged man started to scream in pain, his hands on his right side, Cait started to cry in her stroller; nervously, feeling like she couldn’t breathe any longer, Georgie took her daughter in her arms, cradling her, the tiny head on her shoulder as she begged- she prayed- she would stop crying. Robbers firing shots were never a good thing- but from the look of it, those two guys were new at this, or desperate or high (or all of those things together), which made them extremely volatile and dangerous. What was worse was the fact that one of them had lost his “camouflage”, and everyone had seen his face; from experience, Georgie knew how dangerous something like that was under normal circumstances. But now? She didn’t even want to know about it- not with a fussy baby in her arms.

“Dammit!” The robber on the ground swore under his breath. “They saw it! They saw my face!” He said at the address of robber #2, trying to cover his face with his arm- like it wasn’t already too late.

Robber #2, meanwhile, was pointing his gun at their legs- and trembling, while clumsy Middle Aged Guy was still on the ground; the blood spatter on the floor was getting bigger and bigger, Georgie saw, and he looked paler and paler; from the position, the bullet wouldn’t have hit any major blood vessels, but if he wasn’t going to get some medical help as soon as possible, he would have still died- only, slowly and painfully, instead of quickly.

“On the ground!” Robber #2 screamed, while #1 was pointing his gun at the dying man, mumbling something about having been seen and recognized and about how they were supposed to be doing something about it; the personnel of the bank and the cashiers on their same side, Georgie followed the orders, shielding her baby with her own frame, her eyes never leaving the dying man, though. 

Time passed- even she couldn’t say how much; she could sense movement on the outside, and yet it was like the streets of New Orleans- always so lively and filled with music 24/7, had suddenly gone silent. What was going on outside? She wondered who was there- SWAT, Police? And her friends- her family, did they know what was going on?Was Chris there, worried about them? He would have cared- she had no doubt about that- and he would have surely found a reason to feel guilty, was something going to happen to her or the baby. 

She sighed, hating herself a little bit for what she was about to do- about _to say_ \- but deep down she felt like she didn’t have any choice. _To serve and Protect_ \- that was what The Major had instilled in her brain, what she had wanted to do with her life since walking into the house of the military man and his bride and realizing she had finally found an home. Not just to repay him- but because it was her calling- just like Chris.

Also, it could have been the only way to protect her daughter… if something would have happened to Cait, she would have never forgiven herself. Cait would have had a good life without her mother, too, between Chris and the guys and her own family- but Georgie knew that neither she or Chris would had been the same, if Cait was to perish.

“Look after my daughter, all right?” She whispered at one of the tellers, a brunette girl who seemed barely out of school, who was sniffing quietly; the long-haired brunette nodded, but, her mouth slightly open, she looked around herself, like to check her surroundings, like to see that the other woman wouldn’t do anything too stupid- anything that would endanger them all. 

“You are killing him!” She said aloud as she stood, and slowly walked in the direction of the two men with her hands in the air. “He needs medical attention, otherwise he’ll die. And if he’ll die, things will get messy for you- that’s a promise.”

With just two steps, Robber #2 was right before her, the cold barrel of his gun against her forehead; she wanted to tremble- she actually felt her nerves losing it- but, gulping down a mouthful of saliva, she told herself to be strong, to not show any sign of weakness, to try to at least look in some kind of control. 

“Listen,” She whispered, trying to sound strong, but not doing anything, just looking at him- but never meeting his eyes. “Let him and the others go. You can keep me.”

She pondered her next few words. She knew how dangerous playing this card was. She worked for the Police, had connections to the Navy- which meant she was a precious hostage, a bargain chip. But it could also have backfired as well- there was one cop, it was a case she had worked on in Los Angeles, who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was buying flowers for his wife- their second month anniversary- when the florist had gotten robbed.He hadn’t been in his uniform, barely had his badge on him; he hadn’t done anything, but as soon as the thugs had seen his badge, they had shot him in the head without giving it a second thought.

“I’ve got my ID in my purse- I work for the Police and the Navy. I’m a Crime Scene Investigator. My boyfriend is a fed- to get back one of their own, they’ll give you anything you want. They’ll offer you a good deal.” She paused, shaking her head slightly, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked from one robber to the other. “But not if he dies.”

“She is a cop, Dan! She saw my face, Dan- _a cop_!” Robber #1 screamed; he was hyperventilating, moving his hands in the air, never letting it go of his gun.

“Dan” was trembling and it was clear from his body language haw mad he was; they had seen his accomplish, and now they knew his name. Had they been able to escape, it wouldn’t have been too hard figuring out who exactly he was. Besides, even if he looked like a novice, he didn’t seem stupid. Maybe he didn’t know what he was doing, but he was smart enough to be well aware of what could have happened to him.

He had taken hostages. One of them was injured- probably deadly. And another one worked for the police. Things weren’t going well for him or his partner.And yet, he kept the gun against the skull of the only person who could have been his wild card.

“Dan…” Georgie started, talking slowly, clearly, like she was talking with a kid. “There’s still time. You haven’t done anything wrong. Your friend fired his gun, not you. Think about it. Please.” She begged. For once, she looked for his eyes, hoping against all hope that it would serve her purpose, that he would be moved and he would listen to her. Follow her advice, and free the others. 

“You’re just messing with our heads! Stop playing games!” Dan’s accomplish screamed, on the verge of crying; Georgie’s eyes went to the man on the ground for a faction of second, and sighing, she realized that either he was in shock, or he was gone- it was too hard to tell from such a distance. She hoped that, was he dead, the bad guys wouldn’t notice- otherwise, they would have felt like they had nothing to lose, andthey would have done… well, nothing good, and she didn’t want to think about it. Especially not with her child in the building with her.

Like reading her mind, Dan looked from her to the body to his partner in crime and then back to the body and to her; trembling, rivulets of sweat running down his face, he swore under his breath as he pointed the gun more firmly against Georgie’s soft, pale skin.

As she took a big breath and closed her eyes, her nostrils registered the heavy scent of gunpowder, and she heard, never been so loud, the noise of the secure being taken off. 

So, that was it. After so many years in the Force, after serial killers and terrorist threats and the likes, thiswas how she was going to end. All because of a clumsy guy. All because she had to be a goody two shoes and open her damn big mouth.

She was resigned for herself- and scared for her daughter. What was going to happen to her? She hoped that they would have had mercy of her soul- or that SWAT could take care of them before it was too late. And then… what? She was single, and on Cait’s birth certificate there was no indication of the father; her friends knew it was Keith, but he was back with his ex-wife now, and the two of them had never wanted children to begin with. Would they have taken her in anyway? Or was her sister or her stepmother going to step in? And what about Chris? His name wasn’t anywhere, he had been only a figure in their lives, didn’t matter how meaningful. Would he have asked to be left in the baby’s life?

She sighed, sniffing, as tears burnt her closed eyes; with her hands still in the air, she felt her left hand too light, even if she had never felt the weight of his ring before. And yet, now it lacked- Chris lacked, and she would have spent her next few minutes- or maybe the eternity- thinking back at how cynical she had been. What twisted things she had said. Regrets- that was how she was going to live her last few instants on this Earth, her heart filled with love, her mind with Chris, and her soul with regrets.

And then… then, there was another gunshot.

.

“Dinah! Any News?” As soon as Pride and LaSalle arrived at the crime scene, they were greeted by one of Chris’ old partners- Dinah Clark, Robbery and Homicide investigator that had worked her good share of cases with the team in the years since Chris’ transfer to the feds; the blonde detective simply shook her head, and looked from one man to the other, trying to find an answer- and thinking to what she could or could not say.

“Are you sure Newman is in there?” Chris asked, looking to the building and the cops aligned right before it, gunsand rifles in hand.

Dinah simply nodded. “The teller rang the silent allrm. We accessed security, and we saw her trying to calm those two knuckleheds down.”

Dinah sighed, and bit her lips; she didn’t add anything more, and looked away from their prying eyes. Pride immediately caught up with this behavior, and after too many years in the same line of work, he knew what she probably meant. What she was trying to do. “Dinah, what are you not telling us?” He asked, sounding as matter of fact as never before.

“There seems to be a victim. Also,”she said, and paused. “One of the men is pointing a gun at Newman’s head from a few minutes.”

Pride sighed, exasperated, as Chris turned pale and started to sweat, shaking like a leaf. “Do we know if she told them she is with us?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time a cop offers themselves up in exchange for other hostages.” She shruddered, trying to sound as casual as she could, like it was everyday routine for them.

“I called our neighbour and the daycare. Caitlin is nowhere to be found.” Chris said, gulping down a mouthful of saliva, eyes on the ground. If Cait wasn’t in her usual places, then she had to be with her mum, and if she was with her mum, then his baby girl was in the bank. 

The same bank that was being robbed. 

The same bank where someone was pointing a gun at the love of his life. _Again_.

“I need to get inside, Dinah. Those are my girls in there!” But both the cop and Pride shooked their heads, Pride putting an hand on Chris’chest, like to stop him from taking another step; he knew the young man meant well, but he also remembered how he had looked after finding Savannah in a pool of blood, when she was already dead, how he had regretted not having been there not only to save her- even to just hold her hand in her last moments on this Earth.

And this wasn’t Savannah they were talking about; it was Georgina, the love of his life, and the child they were rising together. There was just no way that Chris’ head was in the game- which meant that no one would have allowed him in the line of fire.

Not when, differently from many other people they worked with, Chris had _a family_.

Children.

Caitlin and Tucker. 

And if soemthing was going to happen to Georgie in that building, Chris would have been the only family the little girl would be left with; Keith would have never taken her in, and there would have been no other father- just an aunt who still refused to talk with her sister and a grandmother who wasn’t really a grandmother to begin with; there was just no freaking way that Pride would have allowed both the baby’s parents to put themselves in harm’s way.

Dinah suddenly raised and eyebrow and put a finger to her left ear- Pride guessed she was wearing some kind of earpiece- and turned to look at the entrance of the bank; there was quite the commotion, and suddenly cops were entering the building and people inside were crying and screaming. 

“What?” Chris practically screamed, grabbing his old friend for a shoulder. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“Eh… They feared he was going to shoot her, so the SWAT sniper fired.” She looked again, from Chris to the bank to Chris and the bank again, where people was running away scared. “They say…”

But Chris didn’t listen to her; before she could end the sentence, he was already pushing his way to the small staircase, and as soon as he saw her quickly walking away, he intercepted Georgie; he ran to her, and took the woman in his arms, Cait sandwitched between the two of them.

Kissing her cascade of reddish hair, he cradled her head in his palm, inhaling her scent, like the tactile and sensorial overload would make him feel how true it was- would assure him that she _really_ was there, alive and well in his arms, just like their little daughter, making gentle sounds with her delicate and innocent voice.

“Are you all right? Are you hurt? Did he do something to you?” He asked her, firing the questions as a semi-authomatic weapon.

“Yeah…” she gasped, her voice raw; she was still shaking, and she could feel under her palm Chris’ thundering heartbeat, could feel on her head his labored breath. All things that matched her own. 

“Don’t, all right?” He almost sobbed, his voice broken and breaking more than once. “Don’t pull any more tricks like this one on me ever again, all right? ‘Cause I think I just lost a good ten years of my life…”

She simply nodded; she put her palm on Chris’ hand, over her heart, and held it; they were both freezing, probably still in shock over what had just happened- and what could have possibly happened, and yet didn’t.

Without letting it go of his girls, Chris, still staring at her eyes, fished her ring from his pocket; he held the jewel at her eyes’ level, gulping down a mouthful of saliva, knowing that it was now or never, that there were things he neded to say and that she needed to hear them in that very moment.

“I want you to put my ring back on, Georgina- it doesn’t matter how long it will take. I’ve loved only two women in my life, and you have to get in your head that Melody is neither of them. But she is Tucker’s mom- he is my son, and Cait’s older brother. And we’ll figure something out, and I’ll do anything to make you forgive me… ‘cause I can’t live without you, all right?”

Sobbing quietly, she simply nodded, Chris feeling rather than hearing her answer; he kissed her forehead, then smashed his lips against her own- hard and possessive and so much grateful that everything was _exactly_ how it was supposed to be.

“Evertyhing’s all right, children?” King asked, chuckling, hands in his pockets as he grinned satisfied inside, his heart full of joy and pride at the sight of the scene unfolding right before his eyes, his mind going back to the first time he had called the two of them like that, when they barely aknowledged each other’s existence.

“Yeah.” Georgie sighed, her cheek agaisnt the rough fabric of Chris’ black polo shirt, a small smile gracing her features. “Yeah, we are.”

And even if they weren’t, both she and Chris thought at the same time, they would have been.

Eventually. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, both The Detective's Unexpected Pregnancy and The Broken Hearted Club come full circle; the epilogue to this work is basically the same as the one of the previous one, with just some small additions to get the differences and better incorporate season 3 into it. So,yaeh, without further ado? The epilogue.

“Ugh. I still can’t believe we allowed Ellie to arrange _our_ wedding.” As she spoke over the phone with Chris, Georgie huffed, fearing the day to come. “We should have done what any normal person does and elope. We still have time to do that though, right?”

Chris couldn’t see her, and yet, he _just knew_ she was pouting. Trying to get the upper hand with him. Like she had always done.

“Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but _this_ is what normal people do.”

“Then eloping is what _sane_ people do. Which we are. Sane, I mean. Normal… jury’s still out on that.” She giggled, a sound he hadn’t heard a lot during the months of her pregnancy- since she had returned to New Orleans in general, actually- and after the revelation of Melody’s role in her life; it filled his heart with joy, knowing that _he_ was doing that to her- that she had forgiven him for having kept his son’s existence a secret, and herself for having reacted the way she had, without trying to see the whys. 

He hadn’t thought that he would have been able to get this again. He had believed his heart was lost once and for all. That he would have never realized his dream of having a family- a wife and child- and yet, when he was less expecting it, it had happened; Georgie was going to be his wife in a matter of hours, Cait was now his daughter, the little sister of Tucker, his beloved son, a child that they all loved with all of their hearts.

“Where are you now?” Georgie asked, looking, a bit dissatisfied, at the dress hanging up on the mirror; the problem wasn’t with the dress itself- more with the fact that she had been dragged into this nightmarish situation. And all to make peace with dear old Ellison.

“I’m outside, just under our window.” She could hear the smile in his voice. Then, Chris took a big breath. “Listen, if you really want to do this… we can write down a note and take a flight to Vegas. We’d be there in three hours, and got married just the two of us.”

“Nah. Besides, wedding aren’t for the people actually getting married, they are for their families and their friends to have fun, get drunk and try to get lucky.” She grunted. She had never been a fan of weddings- marriages were another thing altogether, she had been there, done that, and was more than ready and willingly to do it again.

“ _Also_ for the families and friends.” He sounded a bit offended; when she spoke next, Chris swore that he could see her rolling her eyes over the phone. 

“Whatever. You know I’m talking about those circus-like ceremonies, not the getting married part. It’s those I can do without, but _someone_ guilt-tripped me over the fact that I eloped already once in my life, hence they couldn’t be there to see me walking down the metaphorical aisle.” 

“And that’s how, to answer your question, you probably allowed your sister to turn into the wedding planner from Hell?” It wasn’t really an affirmation, more like a question. Because frankly? He couldn’t think of anyone else being mad because Georgie wanted to elope. Unless it was Chloe- the woman was the closest thing the sisters had to a mother _; of course_ she would have dreamt of a big, fat, white wedding for her girls.

“Actually, I was talking about Jethro. You know, as in _Gibbs._ ” 

Chris snorted, and Georgie joined in the laughter; she went to seat at the bay-window and looked down; she could see Chris underneath, already dressed to the nines, smiling over the phone.

They were both in silence. 

“You still there?” She nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see her so she answered in the affirmative, “So, I’ll see you in, what, 45 minutes?”

“An hour tops. I’ll try not to be late.”

_ It doesn’t matter- I’ll still be there waiting for you,  _ he almost said, but then he decided it was just too heavy, too serious. And today, today was supposed to be about happiness, not wasted time, missed opportunities and regrets.

“I love you.” He simply said, instead. He knew she knew it, but he had decided he wouldn’t have kept anything from her any longer; he was going to tell her everything, until his last day on Earth, every single thing crossing his mind. Even the stupidest.

“I know.” She answered, giggling. She wasn’t good at putting her feelings into words, and she liked to make fun of Chris, every now and then. He was a nice guy, so who said she couldn’t quote Han Solo to him every now and then? Sebastian and Patton found it adorable, after all- and even Sonja didn’t seem to mind too much Star Wars.

(Pride was a whole other matter. He grunted and rolled his eyes whenever he heard her quoting that scene, claiming being a die-hard Star Trek fan.) 

She hung the phone up the moment Ellison, already fully ready in her forest green dress, waltzed into the room without bothering knocking, in pure Ellison fashion; their two eight years old twin nieces were hot on her heels, still in their frilly pink pajamas, busy rubbing their sleepy eyes; they immediately made their way for the crib, but Georgie tsk-tsked them. 

“C’mon girls, come here and give your aunt a kiss instead!” Ivy and Lily quickly obeyed, giggling, but as soon as they were done, they immediately went to look in awe at their sleeping cousin, doing their best to not disturb her. Just like Tucker liked to do with his sister, too. 

“You have five minutes to take a shower, and use that under the shower balmy stuff instead of the cream. You’ll not have to wait for it to dry and it will buy us some time.”

Georgie chuckled, and put her hands on her older sister’s shoulders. “What, no _Good morning sis, how are you doing?_ Or, _how did you sleep?”_

Ellison snickered. “We are on a tight schedule _and_ your boyfriend already asked you all those things. Now stop wasting our time and go get ready, unless your daughter needs feeding.”

“My daughter already ate and Chris isn’t my boyfriend. Not any longer, at least.” Georgie, said, matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, all right, whatever, now go and get ready, I still have to do your hair and your make-up once you are done with the shower.”

Georgie did as she was asked- _demanded_ , actually- and not more than ten minutes later she was sitting in front of her vanity, dressed with a simple wedding dress, pearl white and knee-length with lacy long sleeves, just a solitary diamond at her neck and at her lobes, and of course the charms bracelet Chris had given her- it didn’t fit too much with the whole ensemble, but it was a sign, and besides, she wanted to show off her latest addiction- a charm with three stylized figures, and the word family, that Chris had given her just the evening before. 

“The Major would have loved this. Chloe and I never say it enough, but he has always been proud of you..” Ellison said while brushing her younger sister’s hair. “He wouldn’t have been proud of how we fought, thought.”

Georgie put an hand on her sister’s one, right on former FBI agent’s left shoulder, and grabbed it like for dear life; the truth was, when their brother and his wife had died and left her the girls, she hadn’t been mad with Ellison for fighting to get them; _of course_ she had been hurt by her words, but not too much, not knowing that they were true. 

She had been single, with no life-partner at the horizon, whereas Ellison had been married with Matt for a good ten years and already had Tony, a pre-teenage son.

She was a cop, worked cases in the field and didn’t fully considered how risky it could be for her safety, whereas Ellison was an interior decorator. Hell, she hadn’t even card about the _hours_ , falling asleep at her desk more nights than not, while her sister, well, she did work as many hours as she wanted whenever she wanted to, being on her own.

Georgie loved the girls, had loved them since day one, but… she wasn’t sure she would have been strong enough to give up on her lifestyle back then. But as soon as she got pregnant? That was a whole other argument. Not because she didn’t love the girls or she loved her own child more- it was just that, having a tiny life growing in her, it made it all… _real._

The moment was getting heavy, and Ellison was starting to see her sister’s eyes getting teary; she couldn’t have any of that, not when she had helped Georgie with her make-up, and, all right, the label said water-proof, but she didn’t really wanted to test it yet.

So, she went for levity.

“You know, I’m confused… how does it work exactly?”

Georgie looked at her sister’s reflection in the mirror, quizzical. Ellison sounded quite serious, and the former detective wondered where she was going. “What? Me and forensic, you mean? You know that’s technically what I studied, right?”

Ellison tsk-tsked. “Oh, no, I wasn’t talking about of anything as boring as work… I mean, do you call him Chris in bed? And, has he ever called you that in that heat of the moment? Because, to us, you’ve been Chris for a long, long time, and now, not only you suddenly aren’t Chris any longer, but you actually call someone else by that name…”

They both started laughing, Georgie’s cheeks coloring of a deep red as she reassured her older sister with a smug grin. “Ellie, c’mon, you know that I’ll always be Chrissy to you.” 

“ **WE ARE READY!”** The sisters turned as soon as they heard the two hurricanes running into the room in their cute green dressed and the ballerina shoes they had insisted on; at their back, Chloe, the Major’s wife, the woman who had fostered them, with Cait, a cloud of pink and white, in her arms.

“Gibbs’s waiting for you, honey.” She leaned over her step-daughter, and gave her a quick kiss, the twins going to hide behind her legs.

Georgie stood, and looked at Ellie. “I know that I should have asked before, and that I did say that I was giving you free reign, but, I was wondering…”

Ellie shook her head. “Ah, sis… when will you learn to trust me? In my line of work, I know how to look for what _people_ wants- not what I’d like to have for myself.”

“Yes, but that’s a wedding. Not at apartment. Which is why I’m suddenly worried I’ll not be able to handle today.”

“I’m sure your sister arranged just the thing for you, Newman.” Gibbs knocked at the semi-open door, and gave a quick look inside, impatience in his tone. “You ready or what? We are getting late.”

Georgie nodded; she stood, and gave a kiss to each woman of her family- her “mother”, her sister, her nieces and her baby, and then she joined Gibbs, and allowed him to walk arm in arm with her towards the front door, downstairs,and then the car.

“Uhm. That’s weird.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Gibbs laughed. “By the way, I think I may say that I’m somehow… honored that you asked me to walk you down the aisle. I thought you would have asked Pride. Not that I’ve never believed you to be the kind of woman who _needs_ to be given away or walked down the aisle to begin with.” 

She shrugged. “Don’t read too much into this. You are simply the man I’ve known longer in my life. Who is still alive, I mean.”

Gibbs shook his head, like to say, _Don’t make me hit you on your wedding day_. 

He opened her the passenger door of the robin-eggshell historic Citroen, and then took the driver’s seat, Georgie’s eyes looking at him with mirth and fun- it was unusual, and a bit strange, seeing Gibbs all dressed up.

“Does it mean I don’t have to read LaSalle the riot act? Don’t have to tell him to better be careful with your heart because he’ll have to deal with me if he breaks it?”

For a long time, Gibbs had been a mentor to her, a friend- sometimes, even a sort of father figure. Now, seeing him happy, smiling and making fun of the situation, it filled her heart with joy, even if she wondered how much of truth there was behind his words; when she had discovered of Tucker and Melody, Gibbs had been the first one Georgie had called, and there was no need to say that the man hadn’t been pleased with the fellow NCIS agent, who had gone and broke his little girl’s heart. 

“No.” She shook her head, and reached at the same time for the bouquet of white flowers on the backseat. She smiled, inhaled the sweet scent and enjoyed the sensation of the cold and delicate petals and leaves under her fingertips. “He’ll be careful with my heart from now on. Just like I’ll be careful with his. We’ve learned from our mistakes, and we’ll try our best to not repeat any of them.”

After having driven in circles for what seemed hours, they finally reached their destination, and she smiled, shaking her head almost in disbelief, because Ellison, for once, had been right- she had arranged her sister’s wedding, not her own. 

Their few guests, immediately families and their closest friends, less than 30 people among the two of them, were gathered in front of Pride’s bar, where a sign with “Private Event” made good show of itself- gathered in front of the building, there was Ellison, Matt, Tony, Lily and Ivy, Cloe, Cait, and Patrice, Megan, Cade, and Melody and Tucker (with George, a lawyer Melody was dating), and Pride with Laurel and a date, Sonja, Tammy, Loretta with her children, Patton and Sebastian and even Meredith had come, together with James… 

“By the way, I know you never wanted to be walked down the aisle. It’s not really in your strings.” Gibbs smirked as he left the car, someone else opening her door and offering her an helping hand. “I think I may have in mind someone who’s better suited for the job.”

“Ehy.” She simply breathed, her voice only a murmur; she stopped thinking about anything, and any nervousness she had felt until that very moment vanished. There, in Chris’ arms- looking at him- she knew: they were going to be all right. Their lives – _their life_ \- wasn’t going to be perfect, but she knew with certainty that it would be the best version of it; they were going to have problems, just like anyone else, there were going to be arguments, ups and down, but they were going to be part of _them_. They were going to do it together. The both of them.

The three of them, actually. Together with their extended family.

Georgie took a big breath and looked up in the sky; her thought went to the woman who had shaped Christopher into the amazing man he had turned into, and she thanked Savannah, for she and St. Christopher had watched over her beloved, and even her child before she was born -she firmly believed they still did.

Chris looked at her quizzically, and she tightened her grip around his hand; they walked inside the bar, hand in hand, families and friends at their sides, ready to celebrate something that many of them had seen long before the soon-to-be married couple did, something that the both of them were either too scared or too guilt-ridden to fully accept it- something that, because of their pride, they had almost lost..

He lightly kissed her, just a quick peck on the lips, like a sweet promise of things to come, his eyes shining with a joy Chris would have never thought capable of feeling ever again in his life- the same thing _she_ had firmly believed in for way too long. “You ready for this?”

“Yes.” She answered as they stood before the Judge of Peace. “More than ever.”


End file.
